Norse Air prepares for take-off with $6m investment

Growing its footprint in Africa and beyond JOY ORLEK THE RESERVE Bank has given its approval to the $6m (R42.6m) investment by Lonhro Africa in Norse Air, a move that creates the necessary resources for the airfreight major to grow its footprint on the continent and beyond. “We see enormous synergy in the deal,” says Norse Air CEO Dave Avnit. “Lonhro has already established a firm foothold in a number of African countries and intends to expand further – and there’s a lot of similarity in our geographic expansion plans. “They seem to be following the modern-day view of conglomerates which involves accumulating as many strong players as possible in their markets of choice, and a number of their acquisitions appear to have a logistics element. We are very keen to have them as partners.” Avnit is particularly keen on their philosophy of leaving each business to operate in its own right. Over the years Norse Air has developed four distinct divisions – leasing, maintenance, charter and aircraft sales. “The leasing side requires capital and we have been using our own funds to grow,” said Avnit. “It became clear to us some time ago that we needed to raise the capital to support growth into new and existing markets and the Lonhro deal provides the necessary impetus.” Norse Air Charter has taken full advantage of the massive growth of both passenger and cargo air charter into Africa, says managing director Nadja Avnit. “The company was recently awarded the UN contract to move 1900 tons of election material for the Democratic Republic of Congo’s first election, using 100 ton Antonov 124s, Boeing 747s and 50-ton capacity Ilyushin 76s. “Our footprint currently covers Afghanistan, Ivory Coast, Mali, Accra, Ghana, Mozambique, Madagascar and the Central African Republic. “We have also become more entrenched in the movement of passengers – mostly VIPs – to West Africa and Europe. This is a new departure for the company, which will however continue to maintain its freight focus.” For the immediate future Norse will be looking at expanding existing business as well as adding new geographical areas. The company’s head office will relocate to Mauritius next month.