CHC expands capacity to cater for volumes

With large multinational companies expanding into southern Africa, South Africa remains the stepping stone into Africa. “We, like many others, feel that the next growth will happen on the African continent,” says the company’s CEO, Reshaan Laljith. “Already one can see companies like Walmart expanding into South Africa and that way getting a foothold on the continent,” he told FTW. “Africa as a continent is larger than the USA, Europe and India combined. It is the last frontier – a market far from maturity compared to the USA and other foreign markets. With the population close to one billion, it makes sense that this is where the growth is.” Experts agree that while some 90% of Africans live below the poverty line, it is a major consumer market. With its vast mineral resources, the potential of the continent is being seen by more and more Western countries – something the Chinese identified years ago. “The Chinese and Indians have known for a long time the potential within Africa. They therefore secured mining rights and are building infrastructure – roads, ports and airports. All of this is impacting positively on the continent’s growth,” says Laljith. “But one of the major concerns that we must address is still corruption.” According to Laljith, South Africa is in a prime position to benefit from the interest in Africa. “We are close and have easy access to sub-Saharan Africa and can transport into these countries, being part of the same customs union. There is a large untapped market for various products – from detergents to washing machines – and we offer Africa more efficient supply chains.” Laljith says due to increased growth in third party warehousing and logistics his company has had to increase capacity nation-wide.