The Agility Logistics Park in Maputo is experiencing growing demand for its quality warehouses, according to Agility commercial manager Neide Tsenane.Construction of the 180 000-square-metre (sqm) warehouse park commenced before the outbreak of the global pandemic in 2020, but progress was hit hard during Covid-19 – which saw a slow-down in development until lockdown restrictions were lifted. “We finally opened the park in 2021 and momentum has been growing, with more and more customer interest in the park,” she said.The first phase of the development of the warehouse park was 32 000sqm consisting of three blocks – two at 9 000sqm each and one larger 14 000sqm facility. “Our minimum size unit for lease is 1 000sqm. Tenants use the space for a variety of reasons – from storage and distribution to packaging, processing and light industrial works. We also offer secure open yard facilities, and some customers are already using bonded facilities.”Further new tenants are expected to sign and start operations in the next few months. Current tenants include oil major Total, as well as the local Pernod drinks distributor and Transportes do Indico, a local distribution company.Tsenane commented: “Many warehouses in Maputo are poor quality and in need of rehabilitation or upgrade; the Agility Logistics Park offers a fast and international standard solution to customers. Ready-to-occupy units offering 24-hour-per-day security along with professional facility management in the logistics park allow tenants to focus on their core business, leaving building maintenance and facility management to Ag ilit y.”With a nine-metre height in the warehouse units, the park is promoting a relatively new concept in Mozambique, that of vertical optimisation. “Space in the local market is often thought of only in terms of f looring area – and so companies tend to opt for large spaces where they can store everything on the ground. The Agility Logistics Park enables customers to use racking for storage, bring efficiency to their operations, and significantly reduce the f loor space they require.“Many customers have found that by using racking systems, they need 50% less f loor space to operate. We are spending a lot of time educating the market about the cost benefits of using racking.”She said the park attracted big and small companies. “We can give smaller players that might not have as much capex available the ability to move into a quality warehouse or factory – and for international companies the ready-made warehouses provide a quick and compliant way to enter the market. We are seeing strong interest from the SME market in particular as local companies prepare to meet ever-increasing international standard requirements.”She said expansion plans were already on the cards. “As we fill the existing units we will start development of the next phase as we still have land available to expand the park.”Tsenane added: “The park is strategically located directly on the new Maputo ring road, providing excellent connectivity to all the main roads to other provinces in Mozambique – as well as easy access to South Africa and Matola. The location is only 20 minutes from the airport and 20 minutes from the Maputo port.”Agility is the largest developer and owner of warehouse parks in the Middle East and Africa region and has similar facilities in Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, and under construction in Nigeria.
