New strategy caters for rising consumerism

Last month saw the rollout of Imperial Logistics’ Africa Strategy around consumerisation designed to “enable clients’ African growth and expansion while minimising their risks and the continent’s complexities,” said the logistics major. “The strategy was sparked by dialogues with leading multinationals aiming to benefit from the consumerisation of Africa,” said Imperial’s Africa division CEO Dougie Truter. “Through conversations at the highest level – with manufacturers and brand owners in the pharmaceutical, FMCG and general retail sectors – Imperial’s Africa strategy was conceived, with regional cluster thinking as one of its cornerstones.” Truter noted that Africa’s consumerfacing industries were expected to grow by over US$400 billion by 2020 and global companies were increasingly setting their sights on Africa. “Along with the opportunities, however, come challenges and risks,” he said. “There is no ‘one size fits all’ approach to the African consumer or the African market. Distinct consumer segments exist, with significant variation by country. The legal systems are as varied as the languages spoken. Cash presents risks and challenges. The complexity of doing business in Africa cannot be overemphasised.” Truter cited the example of a multinational aiming to grow in Africa, but having to deal with hundreds of small distributors spread across a host of countries, and expecting from them the same governance and control as they would have with a large, worldclass distributor. Imperial’s strategy aims to simplify business in Africa for its customers by offering a total end-to-end value proposition that can deliver world class service, standards, governance and control. Outlining the development of the Africa strategy, Truter noted that it had begun with transport companies in South Africa that offered crossborder services. From this more traditional transport-based service, Imperial expanded its service offering with distributor capabilities. “We moved into Africa’s consumer market with the acquisition of CIC Holdings, through which we are now operating extensively within the FMCG industry. Our service offering includes distributorships, merchandising, warehousing, distribution, debtors’ administration and staffing solutions.” Imperial’s Pan-African strategy focuses on Nigeria and Ghana in West Africa and on eight East African countries – namely Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Ethiopia, South Sudan and Somalia. Truter said: “In East Africa, Kenya is our operations base since many multinationals have African head offices and manufacturing facilities there. In addition to this, its Port of Mombasa is a gateway to East Africa. In West Africa, our focus is on acquiring good infrastructure.” INSERT & CAPTION Consumer-facing industries are expected to grow by over US$400 billion by 2020. – doug truter