Zimbabwe residents use up forex and boost groupage loads

Leonard Neil GROUPAGE LOADS into Zimbabwe have grown significantly in the past six months, as Zimbabwe residents make the most of their foreign exchange reserves before these are withdrawn in terms of government legislation. There’s an increasing demand for household items such as bathroom and kitchen fittings, electrical goods and furniture, says Kate Hughes of Cross Border Express. “Local residents are simply ‘dumping money on the market place’ and purchasing goods that can provide them with household comforts,” she told FTW. “No one can be certain just how long this will last, but for the moment it is providing us with good loads on our northbound weekly service.” Cross Border Express operates an eight-ton vehicle on the route, a far cry from the small bakkie which husband and managing director Peter Hughes purchased when the company was established in 1995. Hughes saw a niche market opening when customs at Harare airport at the time took as long as 10 days to clear items. A fast road service to and from Gauteng could mean delivery within three days, he said. But disaster gave the fledgling company a bleak start when the initial vehicle was involved in an accident. It meant items booked for the promised initial fast delivery wouldn’t reach their targets on time. “We improvised at our own expense, and had them here as fast as possible while the bakkie was being repaired in Johannesburg,” says Kate Hughes. The service proved so successful that a second bakkie was purchased after three months. A third followed shortly afterwards and within 18 months the first of two eight-ton trucks was introduced to the service. “It’s a safe service as well,” says co-director Richard Bosman. “We carried a consignment of 2 000 wine glasses to Zimbabwe recently, and every one of them was intact on arrival.” Now the company is planning to expand globally and is currently negotiating contracts for the export of agricultural goods to Europe through a recently developed air freight section, which is already handling general cargo by air out of the country.