Growing its Mozambican footprint has been identified as a key priority for vessel liner CMA CGM.According to Ugo Vincent, managing director for the CMA CGM Zambezi Cluster, Indian Ocean Island Cluster and Reunion Island, the increasing number of projects in the power, oil and gas sectors represents a significant opportunity for Mozambique’s future development.“Whilst these projects can come with challenges, such as the delays we have seen on the LNG projects, there is much opportunity in Mozambique. One area of specific focus has been the increase in mining projects and export volumes, in which we have a big footprint,” he told Freight News.The company says it is also seeing increasing growth on both the Eswatini and South African corridors respectively.According to Vincent, the Port of Nacala expansion, as well as the LNG projects in the northern region of Mozambique, are key infrastructure development projects.“Nacala port, if expanded, could accommodate an even higher volume of cargo for exports and imports, thus contributing to an increase in Mozambique’s annual volumes,” he explained.The country is, however, not without challenges. “One of the main issues for the industry is the development and improvement of Mozambique’s logistics infrastructure. This is critical for the realisation of the many opportunities on offer,” said Vincent.He said across Mozambique the big players in the logistics sector were increasingly inclined to provide “one-stop shops”, where they are able to provide services that cover the entire supply chain of their customers. “This way, not only does customer loyalty increase, but there’s also a bigger focus on business process optimisation, providing fewer operational issues and cost reduction for the client.“CMA CGM, with the acquisition of Ceva Logistics in 2019, and the launch and development of its airfreight division, CMA CGM Air Cargo in 2021, is committed to providing its customers with more complementary and agile solutions going forward.”The company also recently launched its networking services marketplace, a business matchmaking service enabling the company’s customers to expand their business worldwide, to create new business opportunities, and to find the suppliers or customers that best fit their needs – all while saving cost and time and reducing the hassle and risks associated with business development.“Considering our expansion plans as well as our environmental sustainability goals, we are currently busy increasing our presence on the Maputo corridor by growing our customer base in Eswatini, South Africa and Zimbabwe. While taking this step, we are conscious of the impact of carbon gas emissions on the planet and are therefore focusing on providing rail transport solutions to the market.”Vincent said a new empty container depot in Nacala that would help cut costs and improve container turnaround times was also on the cards.“We are also planning to grow our footprint in Beira,” he said. “This growing footprint and other initiatives we are undertaking in Mozambique all form part of a new journey that CMA CGM has embarked on known as Better Ways. It is a global commitment towards building more sustainable, efficient and resilient shipping and logistics solutions.“Our strategic vision is not only to offer more efficient shipping and logistics solutions and digitalisation, but also to develop solutions that are more people- and planet-friendly to make shipping and logistics a more sustainable industry," said Vincent.CMA CGM already has a strong presence in Mozambique where it employs close to 100 people across its three offices in the ports of Maputo, Beira and Nacala.“In Maputo, we operate weekly calls, providing direct connections to Asia, the Middle East, India and Indian Ocean markets for both imports and exports, and to Europe, North and South America through our global connections from Jebel Ali and Singapore,” said Vincent.
