Thanks to increased growth in volumes to Zimbabwe, SACO CFR is scaling up its service offering to the country.According to Natasha Lawrence–Ramiah, Johannesburg ocean and road freight manager, plans are in place to introduce a second weekly consolidation service into Zimbabwe this year.“We are gearing ourselves up for 2023 in terms of growing our volumes and service offering to Zimbabwe,” she told Freight News. “Currently we offer a weekly consolidation, but this will be increased to two based on the current and expected growth. A mid-week and a weekend consolidation will give clients the f lexibility of ensuring everything is in order prior to cargo movement, but with the peace of mind that it will still move that same week.”She said several industries were currently on growth trajectories in Zimbabwe, leading to increased volumes. “Construction, mining and agriculture have always been big, and commodities are moving. These are also sectors that have been identified for growth and we are already seeing increased activity. The constant renovation of sites and new buildings to support local infrastructure is one example.”Lawrence-Ramiah said while economic activity did slow down somewhat in 2022, infrastructure upgrades have been ongoing, which means the construction industry has remained busy. It has also led to continued growth in volumes of machinery and spare parts in the country.“We have already seen volumes increase, especially on the export side,” she said. “We see exports into Zimbabwe on the rise, not only from South Africa but also from overseas countries. China remains its main import partner. Another interesting development has been the increased movement of fertiliser from Zimbabwe to South Africa. In addition, the movement of personal and donation items to Zimbabwe increased over the festive season.”She said ongoing logistics challenges such as congestion at the border and bad road infrastructure were improving. “We have seen a huge improvement at the borders and vast upgrades have been made to the road network.”Lawrence–Ramiah added that it was imperative to continue to upgrade infrastructure in the country to ensure the smooth transit of cargo.“While we are cognisant of the fact that Zimbabwe has many challenges as their economic development continues to be hampered by rising inf lation, exchange rate instability and low investment, we remain positive that trade will continue to grow as the Zimbabwean government prepares to put measures in place to stabilise the market and its economy, ensuring trade integration remains on the rise.”
