Nigeria holds potential as Safmarine casts its Africa net wider

RAY SMUTS
EVEN THOUGH Safmarine has been inextricably linked to Africa for decades, the continent still offers much untapped potential which the carrier is intent on probing in the year ahead. Aside from South Africa, Safmarine has tended to focus primarily on East and West Africa. “But we are looking further north, to Nigeria for example, with its population of more than 140 million people,” says Africa region executive Alan Jones. Last year Safmarine beefed up its weekly services from the Far East to West and East Africa, both of which have gone exceptionally well, he said. “We are into the West Africa oil and gas boom with services running from the US Gulf states and Europe. Our focus is on carrying supplies and equipment to the oil ports in the region and I foresee this industry becoming a major part of our business. “Clearly, we would like to grow a lot more inside Africa as there are several untapped opportunities.” The past year was “satisfactory” for Safmarine, says Jones, although financial results are clearly down due to rising port issues worldwide and a hike of some 300% in bunker fuel prices over the last three years. He says, too, that compensation from shippers in the form of Bunker Adjustment Factors (BAFs) and port surcharges do not come close to recovering the line's actual costs – they merely comprise a contribution towards it. The South African market remains import-dominant, probably accounting for one-and-a half times the volume of exports. “We are not certain but hopeful that exports will pick up quite a lot if the rand stays at round the R7.20/$ level while imports will probably slow down a bit.”