Groupage operator expands African services

Neutral groupage operator CFR Freight is seeing increased demand for its services into Africa and is upping its frequencies to meet the additional demand. “We now offer a weekly service to Ghana and Kenya and have introduced our own dedicated service by road from the port of Durban to Lusaka in Zambia,” said Martin Keck, CFR managing director, commenting that the company had seen steady growth to all its African destinations. “Our outlook remains very positive and we will introduce more direct services soon,” he added. Stephen Bishop, general manager of airfreight, said that 60% of the division’s export volumes were currently moving into the continent. “Zimbabwe, Zambia and Tanzania have had consistent volumes while Ghana and Nigeria have shown positive growth in the last few months,” he said. Bishop told FTW that CFR’s growth into Africa was largely on the back of increased support from clients and their own intensified focus on African growth. While Keck highlighted port congestion, customs procedures and high destination costs as some of the biggest obstacles to further growth into Africa, Bishop noted that one of the biggest issues to date had been the airfreight industry’s inability to service delivered at place (DAP) requests into the continent. “Many agents in South Africa have a limited network of partners in Africa and we have put a lot of work into ensuring that we can assist them,” said Bishop. He pointed out that CFR’s association with the Air Cargo Group enabled it to offer DAP services into 43 of the 54 African countries – covering 80% of the continent. “Through our various partners, such as African Express and other air cargo providers, we can act as an extension of our clients’ own networks into Africa,” said Bishop, noting that CFR was constantly negotiating “mutually beneficial deals” with the carriers to be able to offer its clients the best combination of rates and services into the region. He said the airfreight division’s outlook was “very positive”. “We will be launching several e-commerce developments within the next six months,” Bishop said. INSERT & CAPTION 1 We have introduced our own dedicated service by road from the port of Durban to Lusaka in Zambia. – Martin Keck INSERT & CAPTION 2 Ghana and Nigeria have shown positive growth in the last few months. – Stephen Bishop