Own people solve customs problems

Customs regulations that differ from country to country are one of the challenges facing traders in Africa. “We’ve overcome the problem by having our own people on the ground in most places,” says Bruce Emslie, director of Intraspeed South Africa. “We deal with and extensively cover every country in sub-Saharan Africa as well as the Indian Ocean Islands. East, West and Central Africa are our main markets,” Emslie told FTW. The company has branch offices in numerous African states and agents with which it has been dealing for up to ten years, he added. “We also have agents in over 130 countries worldwide.” Intraspeed deals in all commodities including hazardous material and perishables, with the main focus being the mining and telecommunications industries in Africa. “Our volumes in both those fields have increased significantly over the past few months and there seems to be no end in sight. We select the best mode of transport according to the requirements of the clients and the cargo. “We are also heavily involved in charter aircraft into Africa for a number of our customers. We make use of ‘hub’ ports and airports in Uganda, Ghana, Kenya and Zambia in order to distribute our customers’ cargo to destinations not previously catered for,” says Emslie. Intraspeed specialises in transport in and around the African continent both to and from South Africa and worldwide origin points. About 70% of its business is export-related. The company has its own bonds with customs and is a fully operational clearing agent. It is in the process of increasing the import side of the business and is able to clear through its own offices in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. “For us, the economic climate in Africa is booming and we believe it will continue to do so,” Emslie concludes.