Easing the pain with control and security

ALAN PEAT
THE OBVIOUS problems of dealing in Africa - be they political, social, economic or the basic provision of usable infrastructure - affect trade on a daily basis, according to Royston Denysschen, commercial services executive of Manica Africa.
Yet, he told FTW, transport is the crucial lifeline essential to facilitating the much-needed trade envisioned in the African renaissance and in initiatives such as Nepad.
“The vital means of overcoming these problems is threefold,” he told FTW. “Transparency, control and security.”
“And the only way to guarantee that these factors are put into place is to be on-the-ground - to more or less be able to nursemaid your cargo to its final destination.”
Naturally experience built on dealing with these on-the-ground issues on a daily basis is a critical factor for success. Manica Africa has the benefit of experience gained from being a key player in the transport industry in the southern African region over the past 100 years.
His company’s competitive advantage in dealing with these issues, Denysschen added, was its comprehensive infrastructure in the southern sub-continent.
This comprises a border network, with clearing functions at all the border posts and the main routes into the sub-Saharan region; extensive warehousing facilities; and African airfreight handling offices at a range of major centres. What Denysschen sees as being of particular value is the management of the various customs and duty procedures in the southern African region.
“This extensive infrastructure allows us to co-ordinate the movement of freight between all these points in our network, in, out and around the region,” Denysschen said.
“For traders or freight agents who are not based in the region, we effectively ease their pain by being there ourselves - offering peace of mind in everything from straight rail and road transport to complex intermodal movement throughout the network.”
Communication also plays its role, with a comprehensive communications network and cutting edge IT systems providing an instant, up-to-the-minute database for decision-making.
This provides the transparency and control, Denysschen added, allowing Manica Africa to package its services and be able to offer a wide variety of logistics solutions.
“Security also has its place in this scheme of things,” he said. “And to achieve this, Manica has a specialist freight protection unit whose sole task is securing cargo movement within South Africa and cross-border.”