Overborder specialist plans Angola expansion

Service delivery is the key to
‘staying alive’ in the global
economic crunch, says Cross
Border Cargo (CBC) managing director,
Mario Nortje.
And while he foresees even more
challenging times ahead, he is confident
his company can deal with it.
“We found 2008 to be a challenging
year, and yet we managed to finish well,
with good results achieved in the last
quarter,” he told FTW.
“We know there will be even more
challenging times ahead, but we
will be encouraging innovation and
differentiation in service delivery to our
client base.”
Based in Brackenfell, CBC is in a
highly competitive industry and Nortje
believes the actual movement of cargo to
a destination is only a fraction of what his
clients expect.
“Real-time information regarding the
status of shipments over the border is
what is required. And ensuring accurate
‘info’ is passed on regarding the status
of cargo becomes a challenge, especially
when moving through several countries
with several borders to be cleared.”
And when it comes to ‘staying alive’
in the business, he believes careful
management of debtors is vital.
“Looking after cash flow is a major
concern, and it is the smaller
enterprises that are most likely to be
forced out of business due to lack of
financial resources.”
Despite these worries CBC has exciting
prospects ahead this year, in particular the
building up of its Angolan business.
“We have established a network within
Angola and plan to offer a groupage
roadfreight service ex-Luanda into the
provinces.
“We are also launching our airfreight
division this year which poses its
own unique challenges – lodging big
guarantees with the lines being one
of them.
“This is a major goal for us, and
we plan to develop a solid division in
air exports that can rival our mainstay
revenue earner – that of roadfreight
exports.
“We are implementing a new freight
management system and hope to pass the
benefit on to our customers by the end of
this first quarter.”