Zim political solution will kick start aid projects

“Crown Agents have put us on alert for lots of British aid projects for Zimbabwe. It includes everything from school books, rehabilitation of sewerage plants, roads, refrigeration facilities for exports of fruit and vegetables and the like. But this is all linked to a workable political solution in Zimbabwe,” says Hilton Tait, owner of Hike Freight. “Up until 2003 we were virtually camped in Harare, doing sales, but unfortunately that market collapsed because of political turmoil and lack of forex. We had regular roadfreight, railfreight and daily air consolidations into Zimbabwe,” Tait told FTW. To replace this lost business, Hike developed replacement markets in East Africa (Kenya and Uganda), Mauritius and West Africa (Ghana and Nigeria). “Admittedly none of these markets has been as successful as what we had in Zimbabwe, but we have spread our risk over a number of routes and are not dependent on any one route or economy. We now offer regular air and ocean freight services to these countries and a lot of the cargo is controlled by our appointed partners at destination. We continue to support these agents by making trips into Africa in order to develop new business and retain existing clients. Our policy must be working because we see month on month growth even in a tight economy where competition is tough and on the increase. “For a number of years we have also acted as the South African partners for Crown Agents in the UK. They are the department that handles most of the British Aid cargo, a lot of which is sourced in South Africa and supplied by British subsidiary companies for final destination within Africa,” Tait added. In April 2008 Hike opened a Cape Town branch, headed up by John Margoc. “This office has added value as the closest port for West Africa and to service our needs when exports originate from the Cape,” he said.