Despite the travails of Zimbabwe's economy this past year, a key transport player like Leo Shipping has found its consolidations to Zim for the first quarter of '09 have matched last year's volumes. Leo Shipping specialises in Zim groupage transport, and anticipates steadily improving business ahead. “99% of our business is Zimbabwe, and much has changed in the past months, mostly due to a change in forex rules that went into effect on March 1” said Warren Jayes, a partner in the Kaserne-based road transport firm. DRC and Zambia are also served by Leo Shipping, but this year's decline in commodity demand has drastically reduced volumes to those countries, while demand for a key item hauled into Zim, construction equipment and inputs, has risen just as dramatically. “There is a lot of building going on all over the country. We deliver to Harare and the materials, which are manufactured in South Africa, are taken to the sites from there” said Jayes. Reflecting a steadiness of business and belief that more work is to come, the group’s fleet of 42 trucks in '08 has grown to 50 this year. “Zimbabwe is one of the busiest destinations for South African transporters. It definitely is for us,” said Jayes whose trucks also haul groceries and general goods into the country. “There is a lot of positivity about the economic outlook in Zimbabwe. The business climate is good and there is a feeling that it will grow better as the year goes on. What I know is what I see, and the volumes are steady and growing,” Jayes said. Even the perennial congestion at Beit Bridge Border Post has abated somewhat he said. The replacement of the Zim dollar with the US dollar and SA rand have seen goods returning to Zim store shelves and less consumers streaming into SA to purchase necessities.
