Unexpected charges and a lack of transparency in transport costs are undermining the competitiveness of Southern Africa’s logistics corridors and risk driving away clients, Ozi Honwana, general operations manager at Grindrod, warned on Thursday, 5 November, in Maputo. Honwana called for greater predictability in costs and cargo transit times, as well as harmonisation of procedures across countries in the region.

The logistics company representative was speaking on the second and final day of the Mozambique Transport and Logistics Investment Forum and Exhibition (TRANS-LOG MOZ 2026), where he stressed that corridor efficiency depends as much on operating conditions as on physical infrastructure.

“Surprises are not good for logistics. I need to know what the costs are at the border, what the road costs are, what the port costs are,” he said.

According to Honwana, knowing charges in advance allows companies to plan operations and assess transport viability. Conversely, fees that emerge along the route erode operator confidence and damage client relationships.

“We cannot have a good logistics corridor where surprises appear, where there are requests for refreshments,” he warned.

Knowing Transit Times to Plan Operations

The predictability of transport timeframes was identified as another key priority. “The cycle does not necessarily have to be very fast, but we need to have visibility into how long it will take,” he explained.

Drawing on Grindrod’s operational experience, Honwana described supply chains involving the road haulage of ore over hundreds of kilometres, storage at logistics hubs, containerisation, customs clearance, and cargo movement to export ports.

The coordination between these stages, infrastructure, and administrative procedures is, in his view, essential to avoiding disruptions, delays, and additional costs.

Divergent Rules Hamper Regional Integration

Honwana also identified the absence of regulatory harmonisation among member states of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) as a major obstacle to the movement of goods.

“Each of these countries has different rules, different customs requirements, and different road conditions,” he said, referring to the challenges of operating across markets such as Mozambique, Malawi, and Zambia.

Honwana called for greater coordination among governments, arguing that political will and procedural harmonisation are fundamental to facilitating cross-border transport. Removing these barriers could, he argued, support both the export of raw materials and the establishment of industrial and processing activities along the corridors.

The remarks were made during a panel titled “Logistics Hubs and Dry Ports: Transforming Corridors into Trade”, moderated by Yara Mutola of the Mozambique-Netherlands Chamber of Commerce. The session brought together representatives from UN-Habitat, UNIDO, Agility Logistics Parks Africa, Grindrod, and Orey Africa, as well as the governor of Luanda province, Luís Manuel da Fonseca Nunes.

The debate focused on the contribution of logistics centres, dry ports, and industrial platforms to value creation along transport corridors.

The inaugural edition of TRANS-LOG MOZ was held on 4 and 5 November in Maputo, bringing together government officials from Southern African countries, investors, financial institutions, and business operators. Infrastructure financing, corridor modernisation, transport cost reduction, and regional trade integration were among the topics discussed.