Export focus pays off for Katlego

A DECISION taken two years ago to switch its
focus from imports to exports and to target
expansion into Africa has paid off for Katlego
Global Logistics.
“We trebled our turnover last year and so far
this year we’ve already done 80% of our 2006
turnover,” MD Moses Maboi told FTW.
“70% of our business currently comprises
exports – it’s far more lucrative without the risk
that comes with imports.”
Africa, along with UAE, Iraq, Afganistan and the
US, rank among its biggest markets.
Recognising the crucial role played by an
effective global network, Katlego recently joined
the Freight Network Corporation, an independent
grouping of freight agents worldwide of which
Katlego is the South African representative.
“It’s an association that has already brought
in new business contracts through our associate
members around the globe,” said Maboi.
Katlego’s strongest African markets include
Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya,
Tanzania, Mozambique, Botswana and Zambia.
The company is also heavily involved in transport
into Sudan for the United Nations.
For operators in the region, Maboi believes
port congestion and payment issues are the
major challenges, with congestion often forcing
shippers to use airfreight as a standby alternative.
“It’s very costly but sometimes we have no
other option.”
Katlego has offices in Durban and Cape Town
with plans to open a Port Elizabeth branch
in January next year. “We will be targeting
automotive business which is why a PE office
makes sense.”
Next on the agenda for the company, which
celebrates its tenth anniversary next year, will be
to list on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and
Maboi is confident that this will happen in the
next two years.