Infrastructure remains a major challenge

Infrastructure availability and
logistics management remain
the biggest challenges facing the
movement of project cargo in
southern Africa, says Alwyn Nel
of Kingfisher Freight Services.
A fully integrated freight
forwarder that specialises in
project handling and logistics
management, the company has
worked extensively in South
Africa and its surrounding
regions.
“It is essential to have
infrastructure available when
doing project work,” says Nel.
“Also logistics management
based on the service delivery of
subcontractors and providers who
actually deliver the services that
they offer poses a challenge. The
changes that are made by major
role players like the ports, without
any consultation with industry
or thought of the processes that
they are implementing and the
consequences of such decisions
to the economy as a whole, are
problematic and have to be dealt
with.”
According to Nel it is
important to find solutions to
these challenges, as there are
huge opportunities for doing
project work, both within South
Africa and regionally using South
Africa as a hub for transiting
cargoes.
“The proper assessment of
the scope of work that is to
be handled, the limitations,
hindrances and obstacles that are
presented by the location of the
project, infrastructure availability
and limitation, clients’ needs,
and the effective management of
every aspect of the project are all
aspects that ensure success,” he
says. “Project cargo is specialised
and will be handled by companies
that have the staff, dedication and
knowledge available to handle
such tasks. Due to the high
demand for specialist knowledge,
many companies have started to
shy away from this as they have
limited manpower with project
experience.”