As it celebrates its 15th anniversary, Contra Consolidations has recently opened an office in Tema, Ghana, focusing on import consolidation cargo. According to managing director Martin Schulze, this comes as consolidation cargo volumes are on the rise in the West African country.“We attribute this volume increase to South African export cargo, as well as some foreign transhipment cargo. As we operate as a transhipment hub, we are driving cargo from these two sources.” He told Freight News that the strength of their electronic operational platform enabled excellent operational and milestone visibility. “Being cloud based this allows our African hub in South Africa to manage key operational and accounting workf lows in a “shared” environment, ensuring service levels, operational functions, accounting controls and reporting standards are consistently maintained throughout the continent. Africa is well known for its lack of visibility, but with this approach, we have the unique position of having full visibility and control of cargo up to the point of release to the consignee.”He said whilst there were still some operational challenges in Ghana, such as vessel scheduling and capacity, the company was positive about the outlook for the country and the West African region at large.“ We have seen growth across all ports in West Africa,” said Schulze. “For us as a company, we are very excited about our expansion plans into the African continent. We hope with the increase in freight rates from the Far East that more commodities will be sourced from South Africa, stimulating our local industries as well as increasing local exports into Africa."
