Forwarding association gives Botswana agents a voice

Moves are afoot to change the face of freight forwarding in Botswana. Chairman of the Freight and Customs Clearing Agents Association of Botswana, Lucas Barreto, told FTW he was committed to seeing the industry grow and become more professional. “The first step is growing the membership of the organisation because it is in the collective that we have a voice and that we will gain the power to bring about change.” With some 58 companies on its books, the association has been growing slowly but surely. “We have recently appointed a secretary and have rented office space for the organisation. This is good news as it means we are seeing growth and inquiries around membership are starting to increase.” In fact, says Barreto, some of the big boys of logistics have joined up. “And that is what you want to see in any organisation – you need the big international companies to support a local association such as this. At the same time you need the local companies to also be involved as their voice is just as important.” The Association has been around for several years along with the Botswana Freight Forwarders Association. “We have however decided that for this association to work we will no longer allow for dual membership and have actively engaged in growing our membership in an effort to grow the impact that we can have.” And so far so good, he says. “We meet regularly with Customs and take issues from our members to them. Our aim is to facilitate trade opportunities, but also to ensure that the voice of the freight forwarder and the clearing agent is heard.” INSERT & CAPTION It is in the collective that we have a voice and that we will gain the power to bring about change. – Lucas Barreto