Explore the forefront of sustainable transportation systems in Africa through our workshop, “Breaking Barriers: Paving the Way to Sustainable Flow of Goods”. With the pressing concerns of climate change, rethinking transportation methods on the continent is crucial. Join us to discuss key challenges and opportunities specific to Africa’s transportation sector and discover innovative approaches to address them. Our speakers will delve into topics such as optimizing international and regional logistics value chains tailored to Africa’s context.
Topics Covered:
What does it take to move goods in Africa? by 
Ms. Anthe Vrijlandt, Director of Strategy and Partnerships, TradeMark Africa
Moving goods in Africa can be twice, sometimes three times as expensive as in Europe. To start moving goods sustainably, we need to make a business case for the logistics sector to move goods in a greener way. To make this business case, we need to understand what drives the cost structure of trade in African countries. TradeMark Africa has over a decade of experience in removing time and cost barriers on key trading routes. Anthe Vrijlandt, one of TradeMark’s Directors, will be sharing this experience as well as the ambition and opportunities to reduce the time and costs of trade while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Cold Chain Developments in Africa by Mr. Bas Hetterscheid, Manager Partnerships, Wageningen University & Research
Over the last couple of years, a significant focus has been on developing cold chains in Africa from the private sector and the development community. Over the next few years, this will only grow, driven by investments in the Energy sector (productive uses of energy) and MLF funding. In this session, the presenter will reflect on the developments, successes, failures and expected development over the next couple of years. This includes a perspective, on the engagement between African and Dutch partners.
Sustainable Agro-Logistics Corridor Development by Mr. Jeroen Bos, Board Member and Programme Director at Flying Swans
Flying Swans sees opportunities for agro-logistic project development in emerging countries; especially in Africa, where production areas are often far from export ports. Large distances are now covered via truck or plane. In many regions, the basic infrastructure has already been improved in recent years, often with Chinese billion-dollar investments. Ports, rail networks and motorways open up domestic areas. Yet this is not enough to ‘unlock’ agro-logistic value chains. Basic infrastructure alone does not create logistics. We stand for a planned reconfiguration of agro-logistics by scaling up and integration into the basic infrastructure with open, multi-user solutions. Transport transitions to refrigerated containers via train, with hinterland consolidation also serving emerging farmers with smaller volumes. This results in supply chains that are so efficient that they can easily withstand global competition.
