Dar es Salaam-based Galco Transport and Logistics has identified South Africa as the launch pad for its southern African growth initiative. The company moved into its Allandale premises in Johannesburg on March 1, offering 5 000 sqm of warehousing space. It’s part of a broader regional growth initiative, according to general manager Moses Kachunda. “The priority for us is to have a trucking fleet in South Africa by the end of the year in order to service the whole of southern Africa,” he told FTW. Galco, which originally operated as an in-house logistics provider for its parent company, a trading business, was launched four years ago as an independent integrated logistics service provider. “It was a logical development,” said Kachunda. “We had the facilities and we understood the needs of the shipper.” In a recent development, a Galco operation has opened its doors in Kenya with an inland container depot offering port clearing and road transport and serving Uganda, Rwanda and southern Sudan.” The company is active in Dar es Salaam, Mombasa, Beira, Durban, Richards Bay and Walvis Bay – and in-house facilities are an important part of its value proposition. “We have our own fleet of trucks and have never outsourced,” said Kachunda. “That’s the service we sell – we are able to maintain control on behalf of the client. We have 150 trucks in Zambia and 600 in Tanzania – and South Africa will be added to the mix by the end of the year.” Kachunda is upbeat about growth for the year ahead, but adapting to market trends will be the key to success. “At the moment there’s huge growth in agricultural activities in Zambia and as a result there’s a lot of fertiliser going into the country because they don’t have the production capacity. Hard commodities are also beginning to improve and we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of inquiries for copper. And when you move copper it means you also need to move sulphur for purification – so that trajectory may be there for the short to medium term. “In terms of containerised cargo, stability in Rwanda and Burundi is creating opportunities for us and we’ve seen a steady increase to Rwanda.” In a competitive market it’s about responding to the client’s needs, in Kachunda’s view. “If a client insists on cargo identity we give him a portal in our tracking system so that he can track his own trucks. And pricing is competitive.”
The priority for us is to have a trucking fleet in South Africa by the end of the year in order to service the whole of southern Africa. – Moses Kachunda
