Dissertation on copper movement gets global recognition

A 6000-word dissertation on
moving copper from Kitwe
to Rotterdam through Durban
port, as well as an abnormal cargo
shipment movement for a project
site from China to Lusaka, saw
Zambian Daniella Smal win the
2015 Young
International
Freight Forwarder
of the Year (Yiffy)
Award.
In addition to
the dissertation
she had to
present her
paper to a panel
of international
freight forwarding
experts at the
world congress of the International
Federation of Freight Forwarders
(Fiata), which was hosted in Taipei
in September last year.
After winning the regional
section of the competition
representing Zambia, she
represented the global trade
association’s Africa/Middle East
region, and is one of the first
Africans to win the global award.
Smal’s dissertation dealt with
all aspects of the transport of the
different cargoes.
As part of
her prize she
will receive one
week’s practical
experience
of transport
infrastructure
(multimodal),
which is likely
to include visits
to container
terminals,
airfreight
terminals, ports and surveyors’
offices based in Hong Kong as well
as one week’s academic training in
the TT Club’s head office in London
later this year,
“I feel it is important to know
more about the complexities of
insurance in freight forwarding;
there are so many parties involved
and things manage to go wrong all
the time,” says Smal, the logistics
development manager of Lusakabased
Customized Clearing and
Forwarding.
The daughter of Valerie
Sesia, one of the leading freight
forwarders in the region and
former vice chairperson of the
Federation of Clearing and
Forwarding Associations of
Southern Africa (FCFASA), Smal
has been exposed to the industry
from a young age.
“I never once considered not
working in logistics,” she says.
After completing school,
she went to the University of
Pretoria where she obtained
a BCom in marketing and
communications, followed
by honours in business
management from
Unisa.
She is
currently studying towards an
MBA.
Smal has been working in the
industry since 2007, with most of
her experience obtained in
South Africa, before she
and her family moved
to Zambia in July
2014.
INSERT & CAPTION
Winner of the 2015 Young
International Freight
Forwarder of the Year
Award.
– Daniella Smal