The objective of this article is to identify the problems of transport and logistics in Guinea, in order to have a reliable and fine-grained view on the state of the supply chain. We have developed this problem by approaching, the importance and role of the freight transport sector in Guinea. This sector, in addition to its vital importance for the economy, is of great social significance. In order to propose an adequate solution for Supply Chain Development in Guinea
Keywords: logistics, difficulties, transport, freight, Guinea
Guinean trade exchanges with foreign partners have been sensitive to their logistical organisation for a long time. Thus, in addition to the traditional handicaps of Moroccan Foreign Trade (high geographical concentration, low diversity of partners, low diversity of products), the competitive position of exporters is handicapped by the weaknesses of export supply chains. An exporting economy cannot be competitive with a failing logistics organization. Logistics costs very high prices can adversely affect any Export promotion Policy.
The logistics organization not only influences the competitiveness of Moroccan exporters, but it is also the basis for the relocation decisions of foreign companies trying to settle in Guinea.
For a long time, we focused on the sacrosanct benefit of the cost of Labour to attract these businesses. However, recent developments in the competitive environment have shown the limitations of a well-founded strategy essentially on production costs. It is not only about to produce cheaper but also to be more responsive by controlling the time to market the products manufactured. In addition to production costs, there is a growing interest in the costs of circulation of products and services information.
Among the challenges of opening up the world economy today, there is an urgent need to develop genuine external and internal logistics.In fact, Logistics is a function that can allow modernization and structuring of territories.
Efficient and adapted logistics could boost the Guinean economy by bringing to light new services essential to multinationals and different contractors such as the emergence of logistics providers, logistics platforms that create added value and allow the increase in the range of the Guinean economy. It also reduces transaction costs and improves international trade. Guinea's proximity to Europe combined with its low labor costs allow it to offer shorter production times and competitive costs.
Logistics, in addition, creates added value and is essential for job creation. It could make it possible to integrate business functions in Guinea that are still carried out in Europe.
In France, for example, in 2003, all companies in the logistics sector, including transport, employed 959,000 people with a turnover of €119 billion.
Guinea's total logistics costs amount to about 18 % of GDP. However, this ratio is higher than that of the countries of the European Union, including those that joined it in 2004 (whose ratio is between 10 and 15 %).
According to the available data, logistics is an important factor since, according to the companies and industries studied (textile, cement and tole), the total logistics costs represent half to two thirds of the cost of Labor in Guinea. Their share of the total added value created in Guinea varies between 20 % and 40 %. The physical proximity of the European Union is a unique asset for Guinea that must be fully exploited.
Guinea's comparative advantage in the European market is, however, its ability to integrate into short production cycles. From a logistical point of view, Guinea will thus rely increasingly on international road transport, which must be fast, reliable and not too expensive.
Guinean companies today face very high logistical costs that burden their competitiveness. In an increasingly integrated world trade environment, a shift at the margin of these costs can have significant positive or negative consequences. Today, competition is so important that a delay of a few hours in the arrival of products can lead to the loss of a market. Global logistics companies make profits by focusing on meeting deadlines, preserving product quality throughout the chain with a competitive price.
Globally, there is no large exporting country with expensive and unreliable logistics. Logistics encompasses all activities that relate to product (and information) flows by enabling value for money and cost reduction for a given level of service. It is true that some Guinean companies have achieved a certain level of Service and competence in this field. However, apart from a few companies at the forefront, Guinean companies, as a whole, are not only based on archaic transport practices but above all do not yet appreciate the importance of efficient logistics.
On the other hand, in emerging Asian countries, indirect logistics costs such as too high buffer stocks, inefficient flow and Information Management reach almost 10 % of GDP and are almost as large as direct costs. These costs are much less visible than building a road but their cost is almost as large and their impact can be even greater. A reduction in logistics costs of 15–20 % would lead to an increase in GDP of 1.5–2 % compared to 0.7–1 % for current infrastructure work in emerging Asian countries15.
Guinea seems increasingly lagging behind all its direct competitors in the European market. The price and poor quality of the internal transport added to the price of the kinda-Senegal crossing make it difficult to competitive exports from the Labe region for example. The cost of this segment is so large that it roughly corresponds to the cost of the Istanbul-France distance. Under these conditions, Guinea's potential market is significantly reduced.
Guinean companies today face much higher logistics costs than their competitors. According to business surveys, the cost of transport for textiles (to the United States) is more than twice as high for a Guinean company as for a Chinese or Thai company. According to UNCTAD figures, freight costs relative to the value of imports are among the highest in the MENA region, at 14.3 per cent in 2000. In the same study, this ratio was only 11.4 % in Ivory Coast, 7.3 % in Senegal and only 4.7 % for Turkey.
Sea freight rates for Northern Europe (in euros per forty-foot container)
|
Provenance |
Destination |
|
|
Conakry |
540 |
900 |
|
Mamou |
625 |
1150 |
|
Kindia |
600 |
1050 |
|
Istanbul |
560 |
900 |
|
Mali |
530 |
900 |
|
Senegal |
650 |
1100 |
|
Ivory Coast |
2000 |
- |
(Source study conducted for Drewry Shipping Management 2005)
Modern and quality transport is a requirement that few companies Guineans have taken into account. Given the complexity of an approach logistics going beyond transport, it seems that this area is abandoned by Guinean companies and rather failing from Guinea. However, supply chain studies highlight the importance of non-transport costs. If we refer to Dobberstein's calculations, it is in this area where the «costs without this integration of the logistics approach liberalization risks having adverse consequences on the entire Guinean industrial fabric.
The development of logistics providers is hampered for the following reasons:
− High cost of land for the development of logistics platforms (especially in Conakry),
− Guinean shippers ' mistrust of communicating stocks, stocks production rates etc.…,
− Small size of many chargers that cannot bear the cost of outsourcing.
− Weakness of the skilled workforce in this area.
All of these elements are interdependent and, without a comprehensive strategy, Guinea's logistics will struggle to emerge in the near future.
The supply of logistics services is low and not very diverse in Guinea. This sector is dominated by financially unstructured micro-enterprises and commercial. These companies do not invest and often do not comply with current regulations: thus, the average age of the truck fleet is 13 years and these trucks generally do not have transport insurance. Fast and reliable road transport is carried out by a very small number of companies.
The weak development of logistics providers and the lack of awareness of the importance of logistics among Moroccan companies do not contribute to the emergence of these services. Only a handful of companies offer transport-related logistics services.
Overall constraints to the development of logistics activities include causes such as the price of access to land (especially in the Conakry region) for logistics platforms or to the fiscal or regulatory environment (such as the lack of development of Customs stocks in exporting companies).
Even if the logistical constraints are of course specific to each sector, several elements seem common:
− The high costs of crossing the Strait (including Port crossing costs on both sides of the Mediterranean and shipping),
− some lack of flexibility on the part of the customs administration in the day-to-day management of cases,
− the limited capacity of air transport, the low quality of road transport of goods, especially within Guinea
− storage of inputs and finished products too high for industrial subcontracting
The activities of the main logistics providers
|
The Express Way |
SDTM |
Marotrans |
Exel |
Geodis |
Maersk logistics |
|
|
Guinean |
Guinean |
Guinean |
Foreign |
Foreign |
foreign |
|
|
Storage |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Stock management |
Yes |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Order preparation |
No |
No |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
|
Transport |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |
|
Collection |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
No |
No |
No |
|
Advice |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
|
Associated IT Services |
No |
No |
No |
Yes |
No |
No |
The supply of quality services in the road transport of goods is very low.
At export, the costs and delays of crossing the Strait are serious handicaps. The cost of the sea crossing is above all a major handicap for International Road transport. The crossing of the Strait is about 550 euros per crossing, which is two to three times the standard for comparable crossing distances (such as the Channel tunnel).
Waiting times are also a strong constraint which results in part from the non-separation between passenger and freight traffic. The logistics of the crossing should be radically changed by the commissioning of the Port of Bollore logistics the likely application by Spain of the European ban on the movement of heavy goods vehicles on weekends.
On importation, the costs and delays associated with the Port passage to Conakry remain too high. For a container, the cost of the port passage to Conakry is one of the highest in the Mediterranean and is much higher than the rates practiced in Europe
Comparison of Port costs (in Euros per forty-foot container)
|
Port |
Conakry |
Havre |
Anvers |
Bilbao |
Barcelona |
Genes |
Istanbul |
|
terminal service charges |
227 |
123 |
112 |
90 |
140 |
132 |
83 |
|
handling cost |
132–192 |
135 |
90 |
110 |
110 |
90 |
110 |
(Source study conducted for Drewry Shipping Management 2005)
Internal transport is mainly faced with the problem of road transport of goods, which today does not guarantee a quality offer. The weak development of intermodal transport also contributes to the weakness of the sector.
Guinea, the road transport of goods is characterized by a low quality / price ratio. For many Guinean companies, Road transport is not a problem as it is inexpensive. For decades, road freight transport has been characterized by the following:
− A predominance of the informal sector, estimated at 70–75 % of total annual transport;
− 90 % of companies with 1 or 2 trucks 41 and 50 companies with a fleet of more than 20 trucks;
− A limitation of international operations to some companies.
− a dilapidated truck park (with an average age of 13 years);
− Rational management (with real accounting) limited to 10–15 % of companies;
− A distance travelled by trucks of less than 8 tonnes of PTAC greater than it should be;
− A lack of transport insurance;
− An average fare is below the cost price, especially in informal transport.
Market Structure of road transport undertakings
|
Number of company vehicles |
0 |
1 |
2 |
3–5 |
6–10 |
11–20 |
more than 20 |
Total |
|
Number of enterprises |
400 |
10470 |
1535 |
648 |
273 |
82 |
52 |
13485 |
|
Percentage of total business |
3 |
77.8 |
11.4 |
4.8 |
2 |
0.6 |
0.3 |
100 |
(Source Road transport Directorate)
According to the professionals interviewed, the main obstacles to the modernization of road freight transport are:
− Difficulties in accessing financing;
− Additional costs, especially for international transport, due to security problems, especially at ports (with the absence of secure parking in waiting areas).
− Unfair competition from informal transport (for internal transport).
− Since the demise of the NTA (National Transportation Agency)
− Lack of control for rule violators.
− No strict adherence to the rules of access to the profession
Guinea's successful transition to modern logistics requires:
− Improving Guinea's external logistics, particularly in its relationship with the European Union.
− The development of logistics as a vector of Guinea's activity, both through the development of new services, but also through the dissemination of modern attitudes and practices in Guinean exporting companies as well as those that produce on the local market.
− In order to take full advantage of the potential for improvement linked to better logistics in Guinea, tripartite cooperation between the state, companies and bodies specialized in economic development or training is necessary.
− A key factor in the success of the action plan will be the ability to truly involve the companies directly affected by the measures. This is true not only for the definition of actions but also for their implementation.
− Listening to users is also fundamental to the measurement of results and the ability to evolve proposed actions in the field of public services.
− A private-public steering structure whose function would be to mobilize the actors, supervise the implementation of the projects entrusted to the competent leaders, and measure the results.
Projects aimed at supporting the major reforms currently underway in Guinea such as those of ports and Road transport. The main elements of the strategy to be followed to overcome this situation are the subject of a broad consensus between the profession and the public authorities:
− Creation of a road transport Observatory for reference price information for those who have no idea about their costs.
− Encourage joint shipper / carrier liability.
− Consolidate the carriers by creating management companies that would Group several dozen vehicles because today they do not have the necessary economic weight vis-à-vis the shippers.
− Strict adherence to the criteria for access to the profession (such as financial capacity or professional aptitude).
Efficient logistics must rely on four levels of complementary trades:
1) design: this level is essential because economic systems are today marked by the simultaneous evolution of upstream industrial networks, downstream distribution networks and technologies.
2) management of logistics flows: this level includes forecasting, planning, optimization to avoid unnecessary transport and handling.
3) management of operations: this level consists in carrying out the execution of logistics operations.
4) execution of operations: this level is at the heart of performance; it covers delivery, inventory management, import and export operations…
By way of conclusion, it could be said that the development of Guinea's logistics must be the subject of joint action between the public and the private. The public sector must prepare the field by building large infrastructures and investing in training and the dissemination of logistics know–how; the private sector must integrate new working methods including logistics management.
References:
- Akoudad, K, et Jawab, F., 2018, Road Transport Problems in Guinea: Discernment and Classification, Proceedings of the International Conference on Industrial Engineering and Operations Management Bandung, Indonesia.
- AMDL (Agence marocaine de développement logistique), 2016, Logistique au Guinea, acquis importants, grands défis et perspectives prometteuses.
- Booto Ekionea, J.-P., Bernard, P., et Plaisent, M., 2011, Consensus par la méthode Delphi sur les concepts clés des capacités organisationnelles spécifiques de la gestion des connaissances, Université du Québec à Montréal. Recherches Qualitatives, Vol. 29, No.3, pp. 168–192.
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Chtioui, T., 2007, Les fondements d'un modèle de mesure de la communication pour le contrôle de gestion: une étude Delphi, Comptabilité et environnement,
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