Röhlig-Grindrod sets its sights on northern Africa

Continent must move towards sophisticated supply chain solutions
KEVIN MAYHEW
WITH HUGE volumes of cargo moving into Africa and a marked improvement in communications, there is significant potential for exports into the continent, particularly Angola and Tanzania in the sub-continent and in northern Africa. Sales and marketing manager of Rohlig-Grindrod, Herman Fouche, says goods for Kenya are presently travelling through Tanzania because of the poor railway system in Kenya while Beit Bridge also poses problems. However, this has not stopped the company from looking at developing northern Africa. “At this point it appears that Algiers will serve as the hub for the development of northern Africa, but this is long term and is still under investigation. The first step is the successful conclusion of a logistics project in Algiers,” he explained. Fouche said the company's African partners had a keen interest in developing the continent’s market to provide a fast and effective service and complete the supply chain. A large portion of cargo carried by Röhlig-Grindrod’s airfreight division is into Africa, with products ranging from perishable cargo to personal effects. “Africa needs more investment and we are encouraging this process. Our aim is to promote traffic from all our operations worldwide to target Africa as an export market, independently of the South African operation. He said Africa had long been sidelined at
best or at worst avoided because of political unrest, uncharted territory or blinkered perceptions. As this perception changes, so the continent will have to move towards enabling more sophisticated supply chain solutions which have become a key ingredient to being competitive in a global marketplace, he adds.