Namibia’s transport corridors remained open and operational during the most severe Covid-19 lockdowns in the country and neighbouring states thanks to “a huge drive and willingness from both government and the private sector to put all Covid-related measures in place and manage risk as best as possible”, according to Philip Coetzee, general manager of Woker Freight services.The benefit for the main corridor is that customers who had previously only talked about using them have now had the opportunity to test the efficiencies as they have had to reroute cargo through Wa lv i s Bay.“And that is the best we can wish for as we are then able to prove the capabilities of the Manica group, as well as that of the corridor,” he told Freight News. Woker is part of Manica Group Namibia, which provides the full range of logistics services through its subsidiaries. Coetzee believes that relationships built up with clients have helped the company to continue providing logistics services through the slump in trade caused by the Covid-19 virus. “This current scenario in which we all find ourselves has definitely helped us all to do a lot of personal introspection, and to think out of the box when it comes to work and business.“In situations like these it is relationships and information that become the main contributor to identifying solutions and opportunities.”The importance of not being reliant on just one or two market segments has also been emphasised. “Diversity in our business has proven to be a stabiliser, if one can even use the word.“While one or two segments have been severely impacted, we were able to keep freight moving on the corridors,” he said.
