10th April

This morning began with a trip to the Ministry of Transport and Communications to meet David Kema. It was our fourth attempt to schedule this meeting and I was starting to wonder how the Maritime Director of a land-locked country could be so busy. David soon explained that although imports and exports have to transit through the ports of neighbouring countries, the government here has a vested interest in monitoring and expediting those movements and encouraging regional and international investment. He acknowledged that due to congestion in the traditional ports, the Zambian government is investigating diverting more traffic via alternatives such as Luanda in Angola and Mombasa in Kenya.

In addition to its international work, Dave’s department also has responsibility for Zambia’s lakes and inland waterways. In Northern Province, Mpulungu Harbour gives access to the huge Lake Tanganyika, stretching 400 miles northwards through Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo as far as Bujumbura in Burundi. Goods such as sugar and cement are exported across this lake by ship.

In the west, parts of the River Zambezi are navigable. This Saturday, the annual Ku-omboka Festival takes place near Mongu. The Lozi King boards a special barge to lead his people’s retreat from the Zambezi’s floodplain to their alternative high-water residences. We are in the midst of an exodus from Lusaka, as Zambians and tourists alike flock to watch the spectacle.

Further south, at the border with Zimbabwe, the waters of the Zambezi crash over a geological wall 1 mile wide and 100 meters high: this is Victoria Falls, of which Dr David Livingstone said "scenes so lovely must have been gazed upon by angels in their flight". Despite my obsessive interest in matters of transport and logistics, I still feel a bit disappointed that such a short trip hasn’t allowed for more conventional sightseeing too.

CILT’s National Executive Committee convened a meeting at midday today for me to brief them on my findings and likely recommendations. I’d prepared a few copies of my discussion document, but there weren’t enough to go round because so many were in attendance. Conditions were quite cramped with more than a dozen of us in the small CILT office. I took this as a good sign because it demonstrates the unquestionable appetite of CILT Zambia Section for change and growth.

By mid-afternoon, the NEC meeting over, Gary, Victor and I found ourselves at a loose end. We made our way to a coffee shop and sat outside in the sun eating cakes and discussing the conclusions of the project. By mutual agreement it was decided to have an hour off work, so the guys could introduce me to a local craft market and give me a chance to get a few genuine Zambian artefacts as gifts for my family. I bought jewellery made from wood, copper and bone; delicately carved animals in teak, ebony and malachite. The quality ranged from satisfactory to perfect, and with a bit of friendly haggling the prices were excellent too.

Later we went back to work, and this time I tagged along at a meeting about a different Transaid project. We called at a wheelchair workshop which has recently diversified into making bicycle-ambulances. This relatively simple concept is gaining popularity as a means of improving rural access. A wheeled stretcher is attached to the back of an ordinary bicycle, allowing patients in remote villages to be taken to health centres more quickly.

Transaid plans to test different models and share information throughout Africa about the most effective designs.

Wednesday 9th April

John Chipowa is a CILT Member and works as Assistant Secretary on Air Transport, at the Ministry of Transport and Communications.  He regrets the lack of transport studies available to policy makers in Zambia.  He mentioned that CILT’s offices in the Showgrounds aren’t accessible.  The nearest bus stop is at Manda Hill Shopping Centre, about 15 minutes walk away.  The location of the offices is secluded and not well-known.  John also described Zambia’s experience of concessioning its railway as a bitter lesson for government.

My second interview today was with an employee at Railway Systems of Zambia.
 This individual was warmly hospitable, but very guarded and compelled me to ensure that our conversation remained confidential.

Erasmus Chilundika at the Road Development Agency (RDA) is prudent.  He has to be.  The agency’s budget is currently in deficit and the demand for road maintenance and repair is spiralling.  The Road Sector Investment Programme aims to render 40,000km of roads into a maintainable condition by 2013 and this is a challenge, because of the availability of funds.  Even if unlimited money was offered, experienced contractors and road-building equipment are in short supply too.  At least one tender for road-works failed to elicit any suitable responses, because of these capacity constraints.  Mr Chilundika confirmed that rail investment would indirectly benefit the RDA although there is no RDA equivalent for rail.

Major Imbula had just returned from a study trip to Namibia.  During the 1980s, when he was in the army, the Major was one of the first students in Zambia to undertake CILT’s qualifications.  He is now one of Zambia’s top academics in the field and also a Director of the ZAMIM, a management training establishment in Lusaka which offers internationally recognised CILT qualifications.

Our meeting with Major Imbula took place at the CILT office and Milton, our Honourable Secretary, was also in attendance.  Along with Victor, Gary and myself, the five of us debated the pros and cons of seeking an Act of Parliament mandating transport and logistics firms to employ CILT members.
Many other professions have achieved recognition in this way.  In the UK, I believe similar legislation applies to accountancy and law.  Here in Zambia Acts of Parliament also govern recruitment and employment in professions such as engineering, marketing and human-resources.

From a Major to a Colonel: our next meeting was with Colonel Fred Mwale, Director of Transport for the Zambia Army.  We had to meet at the Intercontinental Hotel because we hadn’t allowed sufficient time to organise security clearance for a visit to the barracks.  The Colonel was resplendent in his uniform and still retains his childhood interest in vehicles, even after 22 years in military transport.  I asked if he’s fulfilled his ambitions and he replied by explaining that he’s about to embark on a Master’s degree course in Logistics and Physical Distribution with Cranfield University in the UK.  The course is predominantly conducted by correspondence and Colonel Mwale would really like to get access to online resources which will support his studies.  Books and journals on transport and logistics aren’t readily available to him here.  I agreed to find out what CILT can offer.

Wednesday concluded with an absolutely superb local meal.  Whilst volunteers like me get to stay in the Fairview Hotel, Gary lodges with a family on the outskirts of Lusaka.  I’d already met Lloyd, Shelly and their children a couple of times and they’d generously invited me to dinner.  Knives and forks are for losers and I’m proud to say I managed the whole meal with my hands.  The staple is mealie-meal, its taste, colour and grainy consistency are similar to thick mashed potato.  It was served with a variety of dishes including delicious meatballs, succulent fish and “village” chicken (tough and very tasty).  On the whole, the food has been good throughout this trip, but I can honestly say tonight’s was the best meal I’ve eaten in Zambia.

Tuesday 8th April

Last night I returned to Ndola from the mines covered in a mixture of insect repellent, perspiration and pit dust.  It’s a shame there was temporarily no running water at the Endesha Hotel, but I brushed my teeth with bottled water I’d brought along.  This morning I hopefully turned on the taps, but they were still stubbornly unresponsive.  After about an hour the hotelier was persuaded to bring a large bowl of cold water and at last I was able to have a scant but refreshing wash before rushing across town to meet Kevin.

Kevin Shone and his brother Vernon (aka “Butch”), co-owners of Kasembo Transport, had been nominated by Gary as minders for Victor and me during our Copperbelt excursion.  These guys know transport and they know everyone.

Drivers are trained in-house by Kasembo and if they misbehave, for example by stealing fuel, they’ll be summarily dismissed.  Fuel is about the same price in Zambia as it is in the UK.  Diesel costs around $1.60 per litre, yet it’s only $1 in neighbouring Zimbabwe (regional fuel prices are often discussed in US dollars; in Zimbabwe the local currency is subject to rapid inflation and purchases are actually transacted in dollars too).  Drivers have previously stolen the good quality bunkered fuel from Kasembo’s own yard and concealed this by filling up their vehicles with a substitute product bought at the roadside, consisting of diesel, paraffin and other unidentifiable liquids.  The destructive effect on the engine is very costly to repair.

CILT membership would only be valued by the Shone brothers if it resulted in some action.  There are lots of talking-shops where the same agenda is trotted out at each meeting and nothing moves on.  Value for money would come if government consultation led to genuine results.  Perhaps CILT could hold the government to account on behalf of the industry.

From Kasembo, we drove over to freight forwarding agent CML to talk to Ruud Walgaard.  He was busy but afforded us 20 minutes and asked us to email details about CILT as he wasn’t familiar with the organisation.  Ruud talked particularly about border congestion.  There are new tools for electronic payments, but Bank of Zambia takes up to eight days to get confirmation and no-one wants their shipment held up for that long at the border, so customs clearing processes remain laborious and manual.

Our final appointment was with another mine: Bwana Mkubwa (which means “Big Boss”).  Andy Hickman is their Commercial Manager and deals with the outsourcing of logistics.  He believes that the cost of living is artificially high for ordinary Zambians because such a high proportion of goods are imported and the supply chain is unnecessarily expensive.  CILT could create public awareness to indirectly influence politicians to tackle transport problems.  This is not simply a Zambian issue though, Andy described the port of Durban as a “nightmare” where containers can remain inaccessible for weeks.  He said trucks can take up to a month to turn-around at Dar es Salaam.

Andy also pointed out that most trunk routes are single carriageway and there are no bypasses around towns.  Passing lanes on steep inclines would be a worthwhile step, since motorists impatiently overtaking slow lorries regularly cause crashes which lead to even more cost and delay (not to mention the tragic human cost).  The cost of doing business in Zambia is higher than it ought to be, because of transport inefficiency.

Gary had warned us to return before nightfall.  Driving over potholes in the dark is neither fun nor safe.  So Victor and I left Ndola at about mid-day and headed back to Lusaka.

Monday 7th April

On Kevin’s advice, Victor and I left Ndola just after 7am and took the dual-carriageway to Kitwe, arriving at the Chamber of Commerce and Industry office at 8am.  Their Research & Marketing Officer is Mwansa Bantubonse.
The Chamber has about 130 corporate members whose key logistics issue pertains to infrastructure.  Mwansa outlined this dilemma which was soon to become a theme of our conversations with businesses on the Copperbelt.

Heavy mining equipment is best suited to rail transport, but the railways are perceived as unreliable, so the heavy loads go by road instead, exacerbating damage to the road surfaces and reducing the reliability and safety of road transport.  The intense demand for road repairs and maintenance, drains public funds, leaving little scope for meaningful investment in the rail infrastructure.

Mwansa referred us to CCI member Translink Freight and we headed over the road to meet George Malanda.  Despite our arriving unannounced, George was convivial.  He formerly worked in logistics for the multi-national firm Chloride and was encouraged to become a member of both CILT and also the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply (CIPS).  The latter is better established in Zambia than CILT, although George has not maintained his membership of either.  Translink operates international trunking, regularly working the popular route between Zambia and South Africa, with a fleet of eight heavy goods vehicles and a consolidation depot in Kitwe.  Most shipments are less than four tonnes, almost always palletised, and there may be up to eighteen clients’ goods on one vehicle.

George was keen to see the government facilitate harmonisation of road markings and signage across Southern Africa.  For example, he thinks it is unfair that enforcement officials penalise HGVs for driving through Kitwe town centre because although this is forbidden, there are no signs to indicate it.

Our next port of call was Konkola Copper Mine (KCM) at Chingola, about thirty miles northwest of Kitwe.  The condition of the Kitwe-Chingola road was the worst I’ve seen on a trunk route in Zambia, with potholes, ridges and ruts unmistakably caused by heavy vehicles.  There are comparatively few public or private weighbridges in Zambia and those which exist may not always be accurately calibrated.  I have also heard anecdotal stories suggesting that it is cost effective to overload vehicles and bribe government weighbridge officials, although I haven’t seen any evidence of that (except that the road surface speaks for itself).

On arrival at KCM we had some difficulty finding the right entry gate and getting past the security lodge.  Mining is booming in Zambia and the valuable copper is closely guarded against theft and loss, as well as individual mines protecting their intellectual property.  Kevin had told us to ask for Sam and after 45 minutes grappling with officialdom we finally got to meet him.  Although Sam was unable to help with our enquiries he offered to introduce us to the Logistics Manager, Chris.

Chris is incredibly knowledgeable: he used to be the Chief Transport Economist for the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).  He apologised that he wouldn’t be able to spend much time with us as he was about to embark on a scheduled tour of the new smelting plant, with his logistics team.  I tentatively asked whether perhaps we could come along and this was met with a beaming smile and affirmation from Chris: “the more the merrier” he said.  We duly gave our shoe sizes and within an hour we were being kitted out with protective footwear, white coats and hard-hats.

Victor’s delight was palpable: he has already talked to me about the prospect of copper making his beloved homeland Zambia into a more prosperous place for his son to grow up in.  To Victor, this visit was “a lifetime’s opportunity” to see it for himself and although some of the technical explanations were too complex for us to follow, the sights we saw can never be forgotten.  Sadly photography was strictly forbidden and out of respect for our hosts I can’t describe the smelter in detail.  Suffice to say that it will be largest of its kind in Africa, doubling KCM’s output in the next five years.

After the tour, Chris spent a couple of hours talking to us about copper and its related logistics demands.  KCM is essentially a transport operator, providing buses and trains to bring people to work and using rail wagons and gigantic dumper trucks to move materials such as ore, slag and lime around their huge site.  KCM employs lots of people, including rail engineers and train drivers, and they pride themselves on recruiting the “geniuses of Zambia”.  I wondered about competition for staff between the lucrative mining business and the ailing rail sector: given the choice, I know where I’d rather work.

Chris also explained that copper production is relatively expensive in Zambia.  In Chile, cathodes (50kg square plates of copper) can be produced at about one third of their cost in Zambia.  Whilst the selling price remains high, mining in Zambia is economic, but if the commodity price (controlled by the London Metal Exchange) should drop, Zambia would be the first place to feel the pinch.  One of the key components of the high production cost here is the expense of transporting the finished goods 2,000km from Chingola to despatch ports (Dar es Salaam in Tanzania or Durban in South Africa).  Infrastructure investments will be essential to cater for the predicted increase in copper tonnages.

Our afternoon at the mine ended with a personal tour in Chris’s comfortable
4x4 (not so much a Chelsea-tractor status symbol; more a business necessity).  We were privileged to visit the largest open pit mine in the world and left with our heads spinning from the amazing things we’d seen.

Sunday 6th April

Packing up my things I felt a pang of sorrow to be temporarily leaving my new home at the Fairview Hotel.  How on earth will I cope when I have to depart for good?  Victor collected me soon after 9am and we set off for a two-day trip to Ndola, about 170 miles north of Lusaka.

Our first stop was a tiny detour into Kabwe to see a remarkably old tree which was once the site of a slave market.  The tree is colossal, surrounded by a fence and protected by statute from having its branches cut.  As the locals looked on, bemused to see me taking pictures, I was reminded of the Wilberforce Oak at Holwood, Kent, under which the UK politician William Wilberforce resolved to destroy the slave trade in 1787.  Only a remnant remains today of that other historic tree.

The road from Lusaka to Ndola is remarkably straight which suggests that competing land-use was either non existent or disregarded when it was constructed.  Despite being a major trunk route, the carriageway is just two lanes (one in each direction) with no central marking and a single yellow line indicating each outside edge.  The narrow ‘hard shoulder’ beyond the yellow line is occupied by cyclists and pedestrians moving in both directions, and periodically by market stalls selling rural goods such as tomatoes or straw.

Our next stop was at Kipiri where despite having no appointment we were fortunate to come across Lewis Kaluba of Tazara.  Tazara is a joint venture between Zambia and Tanzania, operating a railway line originally funded by aid from Chairman Mao’s China.  UDI mutilated Zambia’s trade routes to the south, necessitating new transport paths for copper exports and fuel imports.  The infamous “Hell Run” roadway was developed between the Zambian Copperbelt and the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam, across inhospitable terrain.  Between 1971 and 1976 the roadway was supplemented by 1860km of rail.

As it happens, Lewis has completed the CILT Advanced Diploma, but perceives that CILT Zambia section is not very active.  He was pleased to hear about the prospect of a five-year strategic plan and gave us some useful suggestions.  He also permitted me to take a few pictures, but with the stern proviso not to photograph any of the copper shipments, as they are subject to strict security.  The policemen on the platform looked all set to arrest me until they saw my ID, confirmed that I had Lewis’s support and reiterated the rule about the copper.  I was relieved to make it back to the car without causing an international incident.

Later in our journey, when Victor pointed out the anthills between Kapiri and Ndola I wasn’t sure whether to believe him.  These structures tower about 12 feet high and punctuated the roadside vegetation at regular intervals for about a mile.  Whilst I was marvelling at them it started to rain.  I haven’t seen any rain before in Zambia and although it was heavy with big droplets, the sun kept merrily shining.  Victor joked that this is a special rainy-season excursion for tourists, to give them a little taste of the terrible flooding which affects the country every February and March.

Upon arriving in Ndola, we met up with Kevin who welcomed me with a beer and some good advice about how to get the most out of this short trip.  Tomorrow we’ll make an early start for nearby Kitwe where I can begin my introduction to the mining operations of Zambia’s Copperbelt province.

Saturday 5th April

I took a stroll around the streets near my hotel this morning, photographing some sights which I hope might convey the general atmosphere of Lusaka.  The weather was bright and sunny with a cooling breeze and not a cloud in the sky.  By a stroke of good fortune these conditions were perfect for a wedding and today Wilton Sakala and Melai Nyambose are getting married.

Wilton is CILT Zambia’s only employee, supporting volunteers and students alike with his administrative duties.  Due to his pre-nuptial commitments I’d only met Wilton a couple of times but he had warmly invited me to accompany Gary to the wedding, a generous offer which I couldn’t wait to accept.

Arriving at 13:30 for a 14:00 wedding is laughable here because “This is Africa” and things didn’t get started for a while.  Nevertheless, it gave me the chance to soak up the peaceful atmosphere of Lusaka’s lofty 1960s Cathedral.  The calm was broken on several occasions by passing processions of festooned wedding cars, drivers tooting their horns whilst the passengers gave celebratory yells and hazard warning lights flashed with joy.

When Wilton arrived he was accompanied by six ushers in identical short-sleeved shirts: white with a traditional print in blue and black.  We took our seats amongst a hundred or so family and friends and soon afterwards the matron (a senior family member) supervised the entry of the bridesmaids.  There were six adults in dresses of the same fabric as the usher’s shirts, and four little girls in cherubic white frills.  Their appearance prompted an excited warbling wail from all the women in the congregation.  Finally the beautiful bride came in, accompanied by her father and the matron.

The service was mainly in English and followed a familiar format, although I was slightly perturbed by Rev Banda’s focus on the wife’s duty to submit to her husband’s will.  When he said “there can be no equality” I wondered whether to object, but the time for that was past and I had my work cut out understanding the hymns.  The first was in Bemba and the second in Nyanga.

Zambia has 72 tribes and the range of languages is vast, but English is common and everyone I’ve met speaks it perfectly, often with a strong local accent.

At various key points during the ceremony, the women set about their cheerful chirruping again, which repeatedly took me by surprise.  When the service was over we withdrew to the grassy Cathedral gardens for photographs, amongst much laughter and gossip.  Wilton proudly introduced us to his lovely new wife and as the party dispersed we politely took our leave.

Friday 4th April

Our meeting schedule for this morning was unexpectedly quiet, so we headed for the sumptuous Intercontinental Hotel with its delicious coffee.  Victor Simfukwe is a local Transaid volunteer whose knowledge of Lusaka would put any sat-nav system to shame and has been supporting Gary for several months.
 As part of Victor’s education about transport and logistics we fashioned an impromptu lecture on warehousing, illustrated by various photographs discovered on my laptop.  Noticing a group of businessmen at the next table had stopped their conversation in order to watch us, I was sure my expertise on this fascinating topic had them enthralled, but it turned out that they were from Philips and merely observing the brand of my computer.

Later in the morning we visited two courier companies: FedEx and Mercury.
The latter is a local outfit which is an appointed agent for UPS.  Both agreed that there are problems with the VAT status of exports and they would welcome a forum for discussion of such issues.  Driver skills were also mentioned.  Courier drivers must have local knowledge and an aptitude for customer service, to supplement their technical driving ability.  Both FedEx and Mercury use motorbikes as well as small vans.  They subcontract larger loads to local haulage firms.

In the afternoon I met Raphael Mabenga of the National Road Fund Agency which administers government money for maintenance and safety.  He agreed that some of the NRFA engineers might benefit from CILT membership.  Raphael explained that funds are available for road improvement works, but these must be drawn by staff at the 72 local councils, who lack experience in the preparation of contracts.  He also acknowledged that smoother, faster roads can cause more crashes.

Our last meeting of the day was with Prince Chintimbwe of National Airports Corporation (NAC).  There’s potential for confusion in Zambia’s aeronautics.
 The flag-carrier Zambia Airways closed in 1994, but a privately run airline now goes by the name of Zambian Airways.  Airport services are offered both by Prince’s employer, NAC, and also by an unrelated private company called NAC2000.  NAC is responsible for four airports: Lusaka, Livingstone, Mfuwe and Ndola.  The aggregated passenger numbers have recently topped one million.  Airfreight is also growing, although when it comes to horticultural exports (flowers and vegetables), Kenya and Ethiopia are much more successful that Zambia.  The worldwide industry standard is for non-aero sources (from carparking and retail concessions) to make up to 20% of overall airport revenue and this is a target which Prince plans to reach.

Thursday 3rd April

There’s a transport flavoured headline on the front page of today’s paper.
According to the Times of Zambia, four former employees of the roads department are facing arrest.  It is claimed that these four resigned from the roads department 11 months ago, moving to the Road Development Agency, but continued to draw their old salaries and allowances, defrauding Northern Province government administration of more than 74 million Kwacha (ten thousand pounds sterling).

Another item that caught my eye was a public notice from Honda, explaining to clients that their Parts Department in Lusaka is closed throughout this week for stock-checking.

This morning I met with Raymond, CILT’s President.  Raymond says Ian Heggie was the Godfather of Road Safety reforms in Zambia.  He explained that as African countries gained their independence during the late 1950s and throughout the 1960s (Zambia’s independence came in 1964) there was huge investment in the road infrastructure funded by borrowing from the World Bank.  Lack of maintenance led to more borrowing in the 1970s and 1980s until a fuel levy was introduced in the 1990s, to fund safety programmes and especially road maintenance.  This approach was Ian’s brain-child and he also secured hypothecation (ring-fencing the funds) despite opposition.

Raymond took me around to the Zambia Insurance Business College Trust where we met the Director, Mr Simule and the Head of Business Studies, Mrs Momba.
They recently accepted their first intake of ten students for the CILT Certificate in Lusaka.  There are plans to expand from Lusaka into the Copperbelt with more students and to offer additional qualifications, such as the Diploma.

After that we talked to Mr Kasongo at Catholic Relief Services.  CRS is one of the largest NGOs in the world, engaged in a wide range of development work.  Before arriving we didn’t know that Mr Kasongo was a member of CILT, but he told us he was and went on to explain how important CILT membership is to him in managing CRS’s national fleet of 84 vehicles.

When we visited the railway station yesterday it was almost deserted: the bus station today was a contrast, full of excitement and activity.  As soon as we drove in, our car was surrounded by porters demanding to know our destination and competing for business on behalf of the different operators.
 What with the drivers, porters, passengers and stalls selling all kind of goods, it was bedlam.  Some of the buses and coaches were old, but on the whole they were in good condition.  Following a tragic coach crash last year where a tyre burst and over 35 people were killed, road speed limiters have been introduced.  The Operations Manager of CR Coaches told us that he welcomed them, but felt the industry had no representation to handle the public aftermath of the crash and its image had suffered as a result, despite safety improvements.

During the afternoon we called into the government agency TEVETA which is responsible for vocational training development and standards.  They commented that international qualifications, including CILT’s, tend to use EU law and Euro-centric case-studies which are not relevant in Zambia.  CILT Zambia could play a role in localising the syllabus to make it more valuable.

Finally, I couldn’t resist popping into Honda to find out about their stock-check.  The After-Sales Manager, Nick, had just finished counting 65,900 bolts but was nevertheless very welcoming and invited us into their storage area which has a mezzanine floor and is fully shelved.  Honda Zambia uses an IT system called Pastel and Nick has recently populated it with bin-numbers to aid stock-checks, but it still takes a full week to count every item.  You learn something new every day and today I learnt that the rubber foot-pegs on motorbikes hardly ever wear out, so there’s no need to keep a huge stock of them.  The quad bikes in the showroom looked tempting but I couldn’t think of a way to prove that test-driving quad-bikes is a critical part of the project, so we said our goodbyes and headed back to the internet café, as another day’s work drew to a close.

Wednesday 2nd April

This morning, Henry (immediate Past President of CILT Zambia) met me in a coffee shop to discuss the 2002-2004 strategy.  He feels that the reliance on volunteers is a barrier to success and recommends recruiting a Chief Executive.  He is also frighteningly well-connected and was able to arrange some more meetings for me.  Everywhere I go, people know Henry and the same applies to CILT’s current President, Raymond.  This recognition bodes well for the Institute’s future.

After lunch we called at the railway station to take some pictures.  I was thinking especially of all my train-spotting friends back home!  Next week, we will have a proper meeting with Railway Systems of Zambia, but for today we had to take our leave and rush away to our next meeting.

When he was at school, Pearson wanted to work on aeroplanes.  He learnt technical and mechanical skills and then supplemented these with administrative and managerial expertise acquired through CILT qualifications.  He never fulfilled his childhood ambition, but now, as Transport Officer for ZESCO (national electricity provider) he is responsible for one of the largest vehicle fleets in Zambia.  In Lusaka alone, ZESCO has over 200 drivers and in describing the difficulty of controlling them, Pearson tells me they are like cats: independently minded and running in all directions.  Driver training arranged through Transaid is bearing fruit though and it is skilled vehicle mechanics and workshop equipment which currently cause Pearson the most headaches.  His fleet of over 2,000 includes many different vehicle types: cars, mini-buses, 4X4s, vans, pick-up trucks and even some HGVs.  They are all bought new, often from Toyota or Nissan, and the parts must be bought from the dealers too, to guarantee authenticity.

While we were talking, Pearson and I were joined by Captain Kasanga.  If he sounds like a comic-book hero that might be because it takes super-human powers to be a transport and logistics professional in Zambia, but Pearson and the Captain are far from fictional.  Kasanga’s role at the Ministry of Works and Supply puts him in charge of all the government vehicles in Zambia (with the exception of the health department); a total fleet of more than 4,500.  In addition, he is working on the IFMIS Project to implement a government-wide SAP-based computer system for finance, with a significant transport management element.

Captain Kasanga reckons he has been a member of CILT for 45 years, but this year he is reluctant to renew his membership.  He questions the benefits of membership and has been told it is due to problems in the UK that he has received no membership number or certificate.  There is also concern that the international publication, CILT World, tends not to feature regional articles from Africa.  We talked about the role which Zambia could play in strengthening the CILT Sections in neighbouring Malawi, Zimbabwe and Tanzania, supplying material for CILT World and promoting international dialogue on regional issues.

Our final meeting today was with Martin Mbangu, a senior Director at the Road Transport Safety Agency (RTSA).  He explained that as Zambia’s economy has become more liberal, government is no longer in the business of managing transport operations and so the demand for qualified professionals in the private sector has increased.  RTSA and CILT have a history of collaboration and there is potential to build on this.

Martin formerly worked on the government’s rail policy and shared his views on the reasons for change in 2003 and the subsequent performance of the concessionaire.  I’ll write more on that when I’ve interviewed a representative of Railway Systems of Zambia next week: watch this space for more on the trains…

Monday 31st March

This morning we formulated a list of the people I want to meet over the next couple of weeks.  It includes government officials, training providers and transport operators from various modes.  Some of them will respond best if I just call into their offices; others prefer a couple of days’ notice.  I plan to ask everybody open questions about their opinions and demands of CILT.

The currency here is hard to equate.  One pound sterling is about 7,200 Zambian Kwacha, so I feel like a millionaire with my purse full of huge notes.  CILT has a handful of corporate members who each pay a subscription of about five million Kwacha.  I started trying to imagine companies paying five million pounds for membership of CILT(UK) before I realised it’s more like 700 pounds.  That’s still expensive in anyone’s currency though, and the important question I want to answer is what value they expect for their money.

At present, CILT’s income seems to arise mainly from examination fees and seminars/workshops.  The accounts suggest that the costly subcontracting of the workshops erodes any potential to generate surplus cash from them, but the localisation of qualifications has reduced CILT’s exposure to paying international rates for setting and marking the tests.

This afternoon I met Roland, a white Zambian who heads up FedHaul (something akin to the FTA or RHA) as well as running his haulage business.  Despite being aware of CILT, Roland isn’t a member, predominantly because he hasn’t come under much pressure to sign up.  He promised to join and told me that the most useful benefit he could get would be a ‘flow of information’.  When I asked him to elaborate he seemed to welcome the opportunity to share his views.

Roland speculated that it would be easy for the government to marginalise the disparate private sector and he gave a couple of examples of recent statutory changes which he felt were not subject to adequate consultation. The Zambian equivalent of a UK ‘Operator’s Licence’ is called a ‘Road Service Licence’.  In the past it was possible to obtain a 5 to 10 year RSL, but recently the maximum term was reduced to one year.  The application process makes this very onerous for businesses.  Roland described how senior company executives such as himself must queue for up to five days, clutching boxes of original documents pertaining to all their vehicles and drivers, until they are called-up before a government panel.  Another legislative change was the abrupt introduction of mandatory road speed limiters.  Just one make and model was permitted, which could only be bought from a sole distributor in Lusaka.  Industry pressure effected change at the eleventh hour, but I hope my schedule will allow for a quick visit to the original Zambian road speed limiter stockist with its enticing name: "Handyman’s Paradise"!

Sunday 30th March

In my shower, the water runs down the plughole very slowly.  I think it’s going clockwise, but it’s hard to tell.  As well as an intermittent supply of hot water, there’s a modern toilet, the single bed is clean, reasonably comfortable and furnished with an effective mosquito net.  I’ve got adequate storage space, a noisy fridge, a rickety desk and a rather grand mirror on the wall, so I have no complaints about the Fairview Hotel.

Gary picked me up at 11am today for a trip to Chaminuka Lodge.  It’s about
25 miles away but the journey took longer than you might expect because of the roads.  Lusaka’s Great East Road runs all the way to Africa’s East coast, through Mozambique.  All the parts of the road I’ve seen are dual carriageway with an asphalt surface which makes for easy driving conditions, but turning off the Great East Road, this no longer applies.  The remaining 20 miles of our route was mainly wide and straight, but its orange sandy surface was constantly punctuated by obstacles such as rocks, 3-foot potholes, meandering pedestrians and even occasional speed-bumps.

Chaminuba Lodge does the best impala steak I’ve ever tasted.  OK, so it’s the only impala steak I’ve ever tasted, but on the strength of that one, I plan to sample as many DLT’s as possible (that’s Deer Like Things, to the uninitiated).  After lunch we toured the huge estate in a Toyota Landcruiser with a group of Arab speaking tourists and a politely encyclopaedic Zambian.

Our glimpse of distantly fleeing zebras and giraffes was slightly disappointing but the elephants made up for it.  During the drive we also saw hyenas, a warthog and a plethora of DLTs including three hartebeest which galloped across the path in front of us.  There were some pretty impressive insects too, such as a menacing black and yellow spider in a massive web and a baby praying-mantis that survived the journey on our radiator grille.  Best of all were the lions.  Having caught sight of them resting under a bush in the afternoon, Gary and I ventured back to their enclosure on foot when the temperature had dropped a bit.  We were supremely privileged to have a perfect view for about 15 minutes, watching two mothers playing with their cubs alongside the boundary fence.  The two boy cubs are about 9 months old and seemed curious to look at us humans, pressing their faces up to the railings, just a couple of feet away.  Their more cynical mothers rolled in the grass and growled amiably, each yawn revealing a perfect pink tongue flanked by lethal teeth.

Upon our return to Lusaka, the hotel was in darkness, which Gary expertly interpreted as a power cut.  The staff explained that the electricity had stopped working about an hour earlier.  They had lovingly lit my way upstairs with candles.  Who can deny the romance of getting changed by torchlight and creeping under the mosquito net like a fairy princess?  As I said, I have no complaints about the Fairview Hotel.

Saturday 29th March

This morning I awoke to see that the sun had risen on the Eastern side of the plane, but the view from my tiny window was still one of night-time.  It felt like I was on the brink of something.  As dawn broke, I marvelled over enticing views of a Zambian landscape that was much lusher than I’d expected.  When Gary met me at the airport he confirmed that the end of the rainy season is an excellent time to visit because of the beautiful greenery and pleasant climate.  Having worked in logistics for Procter and Gamble in Bournemouth, Gary gave it all up for an ex-pat lifestyle in Lusaka.  As Transaid’s Regional Programme Manager for Southern Africa he will be my guide and mentor for the next couple of weeks.  After a much needed caffeine-rush at the luxurious Intercontinental Hotel we drove over to the Showgrounds where Zambia’s Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) has its HQ.

Our meeting was scheduled to begin at ten, but I’d been warned “This is Africa” where time-keeping is often relaxed, so I was happy enough with our eventual 10:45 start: at least it gave me the chance to individually meet and greet each of the members of the National Executive Committee (NEC) as they arrived.  Those in attendance were Henry Chipewo, Martin Chongo, Raymond Jhala, Martin Mbangu, Tambala Muyawala, Milton Sakala and Elias Zulu.

Henry is the Immediate Past President of CILT and was described as single-handedly developing the previous strategic plan.  Broadly, the objectives within that plan have already been met, such as funding and designing new premises, which are currently awaiting planning permission and will be built later in 2008.  Elias works at the University of Zambia and has been chairing a Strategic & Business Plan Sub-Committee of the NEC in preparation for my arrival.  The aim of our project is to develop a strategic plan for the next five years, capitalising on many new opportunities in Zambia.

In contrast with the casual start-time, the initial business of the NEC was conducted very formally, with a series of proposals and counter-proposals about modifications to the agenda whilst current President, Raymond, reminded his colleagues to address everything through the Chair.  Eventually it was agreed to focus upon the report from the Strategic and Business Plan Sub-Committee and a briefing about Milton’s recent meeting with the Minister of Communications and Transport.

We talked about the existing strengths of CILT in Zambia, which include a very committed NEC with an established secretariat, a small but growing membership including corporate members and a range of respected courses for students.  The future for CILT in Zambia looks bright!

Friday 28th March

Today was a series of journeys and goodbyes.  Thank you to my lovely husband for dropping me off at Warrington Bank Quay railway station to take the train to Euston (Virgin Pendolino, of course).  It was drizzling in London, but that’s nothing compared to the rainy season in Zambia, so I shrugged it off and nipped over the road into the Transaid office to say my final farewells to Chantelle and Erin.  London Underground’s Northern and Piccadilly lines were both uneventful.  Ed and Nick met me for lunch in London (Happy Birthday Ed!).  My final goodbye was from my son, Alex, who had come all the way to Heathrow with me to see me off.  Last, but not least, thank you to BA and BAA whose schedule to serve African destinations from Terminal 5 doesn’t come into effect until the end of April.  Terminal 4 was operating like clockwork so Friday 28th March ended with me and all my luggage departing on the same plane, en route for Lusaka...

Thursday 27th March

What are your plans this weekend?  Meeting up with friends or family?
Watching TV?  I'll tell you about my weekend plans.  On Friday I'm taking a 10-hour overnight flight from Heathrow to Zambia.  Saturday morning will see me landing in the capital, Lusaka, to start a two week adventure.  This will be my first time in the Southern Hemisphere and I plan to check out the rumour that bathwater swirls down the plug in the opposite direction.  Alongside such trivial
curiosities I'll also be investigating the transport and logistics industry
in Zambia and broadening my cultural horizons.

As a woman living in the UK, my life expectancy is 81 years.  The corresponding figure for women and men in Zambia is a shocking 40.  Put another way, I can expect to live twice as long as most of the people I'll be meeting, which puts my trip into a sobering context.  One of the main causes of this disparity is the prevalence of HIV/AIDS (it affects 16% of the Zambian population).  Unlike in the UK, the best treatments are not widely available, so up to 100,000 sufferers die each year.  Another Top Ten killer is road crashes.  The cost is a staggering 3% of Zambia's limited resources (GDP).

A couple of weeks ago, Chris, CEO at Transaid, explained to me that African drivers commonly learn their skills through apprenticeships. A teenager will sit in the bus or truck and take over when the main driver is too tired to continue.  After a period of weeks or months driving like this, a licence might be obtained: there seem to be several different ways of procuring one and let's just say they don't all fill me with confidence so I'll be taking care about whose vehicle I travel in!

 
I've had the jabs (typhoid and hepatitis); I've got the malaria tablets (Malarone: they cost a packet but you only have to take them for a short time and the list of potential side-effects is reassuringly short); I've packed cotton shirts and suncream (as recommended by previous volunteers), along with some literature on the UK Government's Freight Best Practice programme (to make me look like a professional).  What could possibly go wrong, eh?  Assuming that I can get organised enough to secure online access, you'll be able to follow my trip from the comfort of your own home, office or wherever.  Please read my blog.  The thought of assorted friends, relatives, acquaintances and complete strangers laughing at my attempts to learn how things work in Zambia might be the only thing keeping me going.

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