‘Phenomenal’ development offers huge opportunities in Mozambique

Since establishing a presence in Mozambique in 2005, Sturrock Shipping has transformed from an exclusive ship’s agency representation based only in Maputo to a service provider that now comfortably offers the entire logistics package in the ports of Maputo, Beira and Nacala. Recently the company opened an additional office in Goba on the Mozambican, South African and Swaziland border, in order to increase its footprint and broaden its horizons. “This expansion is in line with the Group’s vision to be globally recognised as the leading ship’s agency, clearing and forwarding and logistics company in the sub-Saharan African region,” says Alan Bremner, director of Sturrock Shipping Mozambique. “The company’s success is a function of being well positioned, expertly staffed and technically equipped to handle projects as and when they come along,” he told FTW. He notes that Sturrock Shipping Mozambique is taking on more project cargo agency work and also gearing up its clearing and forwarding division in order to provide its customers with fullservice logistics solutions. “Mozambique is just waiting to explode and the development taking place in the country is phenomenal. The achievements are all the more impressive, taking into account that the country came out of a protracted civil war just over a decade ago. It is not without its challenges, however. One of these is storage limitations which have resulted from the significant increase in the volume of petroleum movements,” says Bremner. A further challenge, according to Bremner, concerns the Mozambican customs and excise law. Despite these challenges, he says that Sturrock Shipping is confident that the country will continue to provide opportunities. “It is important to have in place people who understand the laws and pitfalls and who are able to communicate these accurately and concisely to clients who may not always be familiar with the lie of the land. We understand Mozambique, its systems and its laws and can therefore provide customers with a one-stop shop that allows them to concentrate on doing what they do without having to be concerned about these details,” he concludes.