'Tread with caution,' urges freight forwarder

Africa is an “exciting but risky area” in which to do business and CargoCare Freight Services has cautioned exporters not to venture into what it terms “uncontrollable risks”. “Specifically the larger markets are still dangerous ground with the push by consignees to supply Delivery Duty Paid (DDP) which is fraught with dangers (corruption amongst others). The exporters need to be cautious of moving beyond Cost, Insurance and Freight (CIF) or Carriage Paid To (CPT) terms,” said managing director Roland Raath. Africa has become one of the world’s fastest-growing markets and Raath says South Africa is still the preferred base for global companies as a gateway into Africa, particularly sub-Saharan Africa. “The port of Durban plays an increasingly crucial gateway role,” said Raath, adding that that the company was already doing a lot of cross-trade from Europe directly into Africa. He told FTW that infrastructure into Africa was improving fast enough to facilitate trade, but currently only in selected countries. “However, many African countries are benefiting from Chinese and South African investments and soon the infrastructural challenges will be greatly reduced,” said Raath. INSERT & CAPTION SA is still the preferred base for global companies as a gateway into Africa. – Roland Raath