A new partnership between Imperial and Lori Systems will see the logistics major providing a digital platform that will match road transport capacity with volatile demand across Africa.
Lori Systems is an e-logistics platform in Africa that seamlessly coordinates haulage in frontier markets.
“The core benefit for road transporters is increased utilisation of their assets, using the Lori Systems digital platform to make their free capacity available for cargo owners to use,” says Imperial Group CEO Mohammed Akoojee. “Transporters should be able to reduce empty kilometres and stand-over time as they find work for their vehicles on the platform.”
Akoojee says Imperial plans to enter new markets with the use of this platform, most notably making transport capacity available to shippers who manage their own supply chains and accessing transport requirements of small and medium companies. “Efficiency will be achieved through improved digital visibility of all logistics events, which facilitates shortening of waiting times.”
Lori Systems was launched in 2017 with the vision to develop technology that provides practical solutions to the challenges frontier markets face with logistics, namely the lack of visibility, coordination, and data. According to the company, the relative cost of moving goods in Africa is one of the highest in the world, with up to 75% of a product’s costs going to logistics (compared to 6% in the US).
“The company has driven efficiency across fragmented East and West African markets by providing end-to-end visibility for customers and integrations across the entire supply chain. This partnership brings together Lori’s technology and Imperial’s expertise in logistics to drive similar efficiencies in Southern African markets.”