Manica flexes supply chain muscle

Logistics Services Division launched KEVIN MAYHEW A RANGE of negative factors – from the strong exchange rate against the American dollar to high fuel prices - has dampened performance of key export industries like fishing in Namibia and there seems little likelihood that it will significantly improve in 2006, according to the managing director of Manica Group Namibia, Hans-Werner Timke. Timke took over the reins of the diversified group last year following the sudden death of long-standing MD and well-known personality in the Namibian freight industry, Thomas Templin. He added that the woes of the fishing industry had affected Manica, from its clearing and forwarding and ships agency services to its stevedoring company. For the future the company will concentrate on consolidating its operations to provide a more integrated service, he said. “Obviously we have also been adversely affected by P&O being absorbed into Maersk Line as we were agents for them,” he said. However, despite the negative effects in some of the core areas mentioned above, Manica remains a well diversified group with good performances in other areas. A new division, the Logistic Services Division, was also established to “pool current service offerings” and to provide additional capacity for key account management and new business development in areas such as integrated supply chain solutions. On his new position at the helm of a company that for so long was synonymous with his predecessor, the Namibian-born Timke said that the Group had always functioned with separate entities headed by skilled people. On the needs for the next five years, he said that although the Namibian market itself provided some opportunities, these developments needed to be augmented by developing cross-border trade. To this end the Trans Caprivi Corridor needs to be fully developed and border clearance issues resolved to make it smoother to clear customs, he said. In addition the competitiveness of this (and the other) corridor routes needs to be improved by securing return loads and higher volumes, to justify improved corridor rates from the various intermodal service providers.