SDV secures major contract with Chinese company

While it has not emerged totally unscathed, Botswana managed to escape the worst of the global economic meltdown, says Gareth Lendrum, SDV general manager: Botswana. “We have slowly been ticking away with no huge decline in cargo in recent months, and while some industries were affected, we were definitely not as badly affected as other regions.” And they can prove it too as SDV Botswana is expected to close better this year than 2008. “We have had to work hard to achieve this because even though we did not see a big dent in our volumes, clients definitely used the recessionary times to shop around.” According to Lendrum, opportunities for freight forwarders servicing Botswana are plentiful at present, especially when it comes to the construction industry. With the influx of Chinese companies setting up shop in the landlocked country, there is much potential as the Chinese market continues to offer the biggest opportunity for growth. “The only problem we face is that the Chinese are entirely based on costing and very few can compete with their pricings. And if you are out with your price, you are out.” But, says Lendrum, whose company has secured a contract with the Chinese company Huawei Technologies, which will be upgrading the entire Botswana telecommunications network, logistics companies have much opportunity to benefit. “The Chinese import everything and that means business for freight forwarders.” Another challenge, he says, is the language barrier. “We have overcome this by employing a Chinese representative. Having someone who can speak the language has helped a great deal.”