Crane Worldwide Logistics
has opened offices in
Pemba in order to meet
the growing demand for
logistics services in the north of
Mozambique.
“Mozambique is rife with
new projects. From booming
infrastructure projects in the
south, to thriving coal deposits in
the central/west of the country, to
the burgeoning gas fields in the
north, its difficult to find a part
of Mozambique where ambitious
projects aren’t taking shape,” says
Scott Taylor, station manager of
Crane’s new Pemba operation.
Opened in April “at the request of
one of our largest global customers,”
the office is “two minutes from the
Pemba airport and five minutes
from the port,” he says.
“We are delighted to have such
a strong foothold in Pemba. We
believe we are now well-positioned
to support the continuous growth
in the area and provide our
customers with a personalised
service to support their logistics
requirements now and in the
future,” says John Magee, president
and CEO of Crane Worldwide, who
is based in Houston, USA.
Crane Worldwide Logistics,
which has been operating in
Mozambique through agents for
more than two years, has now set
up a registered Mozambican entity
“with a strict adherence to ethical
operations”.
“We offer full service air/ocean/
ground import and export as
well as customs clearance and
consultancy on Mozambican
regulations.
“In Pemba, Crane Worldwide
Logistics sees an excellent
opportunity to provide our
customers with an option that
meets global standards for
efficiency, transparency, and
compliance,” he says.
Having a local presence is
essential in order to ensure service
levels, he believes.
“It is extremely important to
understand that Mozambique is a
very young country in its present
form.
“The day-to-day operations
around the conducting of business
in the country are extremely
challenging, and it is important for
any company or individual wanting
to work here to understand those
challenges and temper their
expectations to them.
“This is not Singapore,
Rotterdam or Los Angeles. It
likely never will be, but times are
changing in Mozambique and
things are slowly improving as
the Western companies and the
Mozambican government learn to
work better together.
“From the perspective of a
logistics provider, be it freight
forwarders, truckers, ocean
carriers, or airlines, you find
yourself subject to the whims
of erratic volumes in Northern
Mozambique.
“It takes a good understanding
of the cycles of oil and gas
development to plan asset
utilization appropriately.
“As we look into 2014-2015 we
will see a dramatic increase in
volumes as the larger infrastructure
plans begin to come to fruition.
“We have seen an extremely
noteworthy and appreciated
increase in focus on infrastructure
(road, rail, power, port, and
airport), and improvements by the
Mozambican Transport Ministry.
“Northern Mozambique now
has some of the finest roads
in Southern Africa nearing
completion,” he says.
CAPTION
Celebrating the landing of the first Crane Worldwide Logistics charter flight at
the Pemba airport are, on the left, independent despachante Nelson Monjane
and station manager Scott Taylor.
