Leonard Neill AN AFRICAN woman sleeps on a bench at Johannesburg’s Park Station with goods she has purchased for resale scattered around her. When her train is ready for embarking she commences a lengthy journey to her home base to deliver the merchandise for sale. “This is the person we want to help. Yes, it’s a basic example but it typifies the trade level which exists in this part of the world where there is a plethora of would-be entrepreneurs who can be assisted in cost-cutting and time saving,” says Frank Sithole, southern Africa operations director of Steward International Networks. “We can save her trouble and time by handling the goods for her. It’s how we see the growth of grassroots developments in this part of the continent. “We are clearing and forwarding agents who can collect and dispatch goods cost-effectively.” Sithole is a former customs worker who launched Steward International 10 years ago. Offering services in and out of Africa, the company has developed into a worldwide logistics provider offering warehousing, all forms of transport both domestically and internationally as well as project administration. African arts and crafts are in demand internationally, he says, but must be exported on a selective basis. “There are no better wooden pieces to be found that those from Malawi. Masks from Burkina Faso and Mali enjoy quick sales in Germany and Italy. Jade and verdite from Zimbabwe are eagerly sought in France and Holland. We import from all of these African countries and then package them for shipping abroad.” “In each country, whether it is in Africa or Europe, we have established working relationships which have proved valuable,”he said.
