MANICA AFRICA - now part of the Bidvest Group - still has tentacles into the main trading areas of Africa, according to Melani Hodgson, finance and commercial director. Registered companies operate in SA, Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo - and business partners in Mozambique and Tanzania. “We have the resources to ensure that ventures into previously unknown territory become less onerous,” said Hodgson. With service groups offering individual products or specially-developed packaged solutions, Manica can deliver the service required by its customers, according to regional operations director, Mark Gunther. It owns a large network of border post offices situated on every major trade route and commercial centre, he added, focusing on clearing imports and exports by air, rail, road or sea freight. “We also have a comprehensive bond capacity in place throughout the region,” Gunther told FTW. Manica has bonded and transit warehousing/holding facilities throughout southern Africa, he added, in Durban, Johannesburg, Beit Bridge, Harare, Bulawayo, Gaborone, Walvis Bay, Windhoek, Lusaka, Ndola, Kitwe, Chingola, Blantyre, Lilongwe and Dar Es Salaam. The company is also “electronically connected” throughout its network, said Gunther. “We have an internally-designed, web-based tracking system and information technology (IT) systems that enable us to communicate with all regional offices.”
