Intraspeed sets high targets for Cape growth

East Africa remains the biggest market
RAY SMUTS
NOT ONLY is the Western Cape growing at a swifter economic pace than any other province in South Africa, it still also has a vast amount of untapped potential, which explains why Jade da Costa, MD of Intra Speed South Africa, has permanently re-located from Johannesburg to Cape Town. This energetic is intent on showing the Mother City represents more than a smiling face by further entrenching Intra Speed’s niche market focus as Africa specialists in forwarding and clearing. Intra Speed (Cape) currently holds about 10% of the company’s overall business, but Da Costa has big plans to change that by being more actively involved at ground level. “I am obviously out to increase the Cape’s market share this year by between 200% and 300%,” he says without batting an eyelid. As to how he hopes to accomplish such a Herculean task, given the intense competition in the Western Cape, Da Costa says simply: “By going out myself and getting the business. “The reason we need to be here is that we are fairly specialised in Africa, so out of Cape Town it has got to be cargo to Angola, Nigeria, Ghana, Sierra Leone and Dakar. “We are quite involved with a lot of mining houses, supplying a number of mines in the West African region – and a lot of guys are still buying from their mates in South Africa.” Equipment for the oil and gas industry and hotel requisites for many new properties springing up all over West Africa also comprise much of Intra Speed’s outgoing cargo from the Western Cape. East Africa, where Intra Speed gained a foothold more than six years ago, remains the company’s biggest market, 60% as against 40% for West Africa. To East Africa Intra Speed ships significant quantities of telecommunications equipment for cellular providers, hotel requisites and a fair amount of mining equipment to the Mwanza area in Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. A new development for Intra Speed is the signing of an agency agreement with a Dar es Salaam company which has its own operation throughout Tanzania. Da Costa is optimistic that when the rand weakens there will be a “substantial increase” in seaborne exports out of Cape Town and an upward shift on the airfreight side. Intra Speed’s Johannesburg office, which accounts for 60% of overall business, has been left in the hands of fellow founders and directors, Bruce Emslie and Tony van Aswegen, while the Durban branch is run by Linda-Jo Andre.