Cross trades into Africa a growing market

The airfreight division of
independent consolidator CFR
Freight is the fastest-growing
within the company, and Africa
remains its biggest export
destination.
“We’re doing a lot of cross
trades into Africa and now
offer DAPs (formerly DDUs)
into 20 African countries
– more than ever before,”
general manager – airfreight,
Dave Graham, told FTW.
Africa will always have its
challenges, particularly for
the smaller forwarders who
don’t have their own agency
network,” says Graham.
“It’s impossible for them to
compete with the logistics
majors who have their own
offices in the region – and this
is where we come in.”
“Our core function however
remains airport to airport
consolidations, and the past
year has seen good volumes
moving into Cameroun and
Kenya – although we serve
all major destinations in the
region.”
Graham believes that the
volume increase is related
more to the rebirth and
expansion of the company’s
airfreight division than
industry growth to these
markets.
“CFR remains the only
consolidator in the country
with an equal emphasis on air
and sea – so we’re effectively
able to offer a one-stop
solution to our clients.”
Part and parcel of that
solution is IT-based. “We’re in
the process of enhancing our
web-based tariff engine while
our track and trace system
automatically sends an update
to our clients every time
we add a checkpoint to the
shipment.
“Were constantly looking
for enhancements based on
client needs.”