Tanzanian integrated logistics services provider – GSM group – has established a southern African hub based in Lusaka through its subsidiary Galco Transport together with a standalone logistics division. Galco Transport and Logistics evolved from servicing the trading and manufacturing arms of the GSM group, and in 2013 a strategic decision was made to expand into logistics.
“Galco now has a strong and growing presence in eastern, southern and central Africa, with offices in South Africa, Zambia, Kenya and Rwanda,” says Galco Zambia general manager Moses Kachunda.
He believes that the learnings from servicing other SBUs within the group gives the trucking division a unique understanding of the needs of its customers.
“We understand that delays cost money. “Bricks and mortar businesses are increasingly operating in a borderless world. Our own experience shows that organisations gain competitive advantage through reliable and competitive logistics support,” he says.
“The southern African hub is serving the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Zambia, Namibia, Zimbabwe and South Africa,” he says.
Initially 110 truck trailer combinations have been assigned to the hub. They are registered in Zambia, which means they can operate throughout the sub-region from the DRC to South Africa. “This is in addition to the 500 trucks serving the East African Region, which we can utilise to grow capacity from the Copperbelt through Dar es Salaam,” he says.
Galco will also transport cargo to other ports such as Beira, Durban, Richards Bay, Dar es Salaam and Walvis Bay. Using the GSM group network, Galco Zambia is also able to help importers with the consolidation of cargo in Dubai and China, where it has offices.
“In East Africa we handle around 350 consolidated container loads a month, and we will develop the less than container load service here in Zambia as well,” he says.
While the present focus in Zambia is on trucking, the company can offer value-added logistics through the group, which has a logistics services division that provides third-party logistics.
“We have plans to build our own warehouse on our Ndola premises in order to provide full end-to-end logistics,” says Kachunda.
It was decided to set up the hub in Lusaka rather than Ndola because Galco wanted to position itself strategically so that it would not be overly dependent on the mining industry. “We serve all sectors, and we see huge potential in the agricultural sector,” he adds.
Using the GSM group’s network he believes that the logistics costs of importing fertilisers and other agricultural chemicals, and the subsequent export of the crop can be reduced.
There is an inherent imbalance in the flow, because the crop is only harvested months after the chemicals have been transported.
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We have plans to build our own warehouse on our Ndola premises in order to provide full end-to-end logistics. – Moses Kachunda
