Resource-rich market opens opportunities for shipping line

Safmarine Zambia has
embarked on a range of
initiatives to take advantage
of the favourable economic
environment in the country.
“The import and export
market of resource-rich
Zambia has grown as the
government embraces direct
foreign investment in both
the agricultural and mining
sectors,” says Andrew
Kuster, country manager
for Zimbabwe and Zambia.
“Not only has Safmarine
Zambia focused on developing
relationships and partnerships
to help meet Zambia’s export
equipment needs, but the
line has also implemented
a number of business
improvements aimed at
enhancing the overall quality
of its customer service in the
region,” says Kuster.
“One of our priorities has
been to look at where we
can free up staff time, for
example, by outsourcing nonvalue-
adding activities and in
doing so, give our all-female
Safmarine Zambia team
more time to focus on our
customers.”
The company has also
encouraged its customers
to provide honest feedback
through its Customer
Satisfaction Survey and is
using their input to identify
and implement specific
solutions and further
improvements to its business
processes.
“We recognise that our
customers have different needs
and expectations and that it is
important for us to understand
those. This is why we have
implemented individual
Service Level Understandings
with our customers, which are
reviewed periodically by the
Safmarine Zambia team.”