Jacobs eyes sub-Saharan growth

Taking advantage of southern Africa’s economic growth, the Jacobs Group of Companies is looking at expanding its services in sub- Saharan Africa. Formally launched this year, the group believes there is still room for growth, particularly in its warehousing and storage division. Jacobs Transport was started in 1999, Seun and Gys Jacobs told FTW, and over the years the two brothers have added a container depot, inland logistics and a machine moving and rigging service, following demand from their customers. Today the Jacobs Group has four divisions operating under its umbrella – Jacobs Transport, Jacobs Container Depot, Jacobs Inland Logistics and Jacobs Machine Moving & Rigging. “With each company specialising in a different field, we now offer an A-Z service,” added Martin Grobbelaar, branch manager of Jacobs Inland Logistics. He said the container depot capacity at City Deep was currently 5 000 TEUs, offering container storage, container handling, repairs and repositioning of containers. “Transport of all types of loads – including abnormal, big game and specialised equipment – is offered to all major South African inland destinations as well as to Botswana, Namibia, Mozambique, Swaziland, Lesotho, Zambia and Zimbabwe,” noted Grobbelaar. He said the current fleet of 50 trucks, plus all the additional services offered within the group, allowed for flexibility, enabling the company to provide specialised packages which adapt to the needs of every customer. “The transport side of the business is currently the greatest revenue driver, mainly because of an increased demand for specialist equipment and our 12 years of experience in transporting that type of cargo,” said Grobbelaar, who still sees scope for growth across the board. “We expect that in three years we’ll need to move premises to accommodate that growth.” CAPTION Gys (left) and Seun Jacobs … ‘Still room for growth.’