World Bunkering > News > Winter 2010 > Africa is rising

Although Africa remains beset with many, many problems we see the continent rising from almost obscurity in terms of global trade to the future storehouse of scarce global commodities.

With initiatives by the African Union such as NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development) advocating a ‘peer review system’ to create more democratic and accountable ruling structures by Africans for Africans, hope exists for the most underdeveloped continent on the planet. For us based in Africa, our futures and destinies are intertwined with Africa, the continent with massively untapped potential. How do you have hope when faced with such great problems? You get involved and make a difference!

We are encouraged to find at a recent Oil Africa conference held in Accra that there exists a small but resolute community of market participants that want to bring about real change to the West African in-port bunker market. The conference was focused more on in-port realities since much of the offshore sector is compliant with all major IMO regulations and is a well organised and efficient market run by the major offshore bunker companies.

The movement is very much in its infancy but the vision for a more regularised in-port bunker service in ports in the Gulf of Guinea was very much top of my mind, as it was for many of the delegates attending the conference. Hot potatoes such as the ‘source of product issue’, participation of indigenous bunkering companies, and the almost routine quality or quantity issues made for a heated and emotional debate! The silver lining is that the awkward topic of doing straight-sustainable business in ports in West Africa is squarely on the table.

SA Bunkers’ methodology over the past four years as an active (and resident) trader around the continent has been to bridge the very real gap between first world expectations (our buyers) and African realities (our indigenous suppliers). This has occasionally meant some sobering conversations in some exotic locations but we are confident of the long-term benefit of this way of doing bunkers in Africa. By way of example, we have invited proactive indigenous companies to best-practice training in our Cape Town office, we have supported serious surveyors, and went as far as actually sourcing and supplying calibrated flow meters for one of our partners in Angola.

Besides our customers getting the best bunker solution available through our network of partners, our clients can know that the buying process is being done in a sustainable professional way. We take the opportunity to invite others attracted to the African market to be concerned with the way you buy in African ports and help in a small but profoundly meaningful way to become part of Africa’s rising.