CMA CGM has introduced a rail service to link Zambia with Dar es Salaam.The trains run from Dar es Salaam to Kapiri Mposhi, which is a central hub on the Tazara line. Inbound containers are off loaded at Kapiri Mposhi and transported by road to either Lusaka or the Copperbelt, according to Ugo Vincent, managing director of the CMA CGM Zambezi Cluster. The hub is also used for transhipment of freight bound for Dar es Salaam.According to Vincent, the line has been expanding its Zambian operations to meet demand.“Over the last four years, CMA CGM Zambia has significantly increased its operations and volumes, especially on the export side,” he told Freight News.It serves Zambia through the ports of Walvis Bay in Namibia, Durban in South Africa, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, and Beira in Mozambique and has had offices in Zambia since 2010.“CMA CGM Zambia offers transportation solutions to its customers not only through the most common corridors, but through all the possible ones, allowing us to meet our customers’ needs based on their main requirements – be they rates or transit times,” he says. New services available to customers moving freight in and out of Zambia include SERENITY, which allows customers to insure the value of their cargo directly with CMA CGM, and BARLOCK, a security device which strengthens security for containers. “These solutions are packaged as CMA CGM+, which includes ACT with CMA CGM+, a range of high value-added services available throughout all of the group’s shipping subsidiaries,” he says.CMA CGM has seen strong growth in the volume of mineral exports out of Zambia, to both India and China. The main commodities being shipped out are copper, zinc ore, aluminium, granite, and lead.Vincent is confident of further growth in volumes moving in and through the country.“Its geographical position within southern Africa is an advantage which increases the potential for logistics solutions to and from Zambia. “With an efficient team located in Lusaka, CMA CGM Zambia is able to offer reliable and competitive door-to-door transport solutions to and from Zambia by using the various ports of Dar es Salaam, Beira, Durban and Walvis Bay,” he says.In June 2021 CMA CGM unveiled a new group signature, “BETTER WAYS,” which the group says is part of its strategic transformation to contribute to more efficient, resilient, and sustainable global trade.It is being driven by Rodolphe Saadé, CMA CGM chairman and chief executive officer.“BETTER WAYS is CMA CGM’s ambition to build our transport and logistics activities around new ways to create value, not only for the business, but also for people and the planet we live in,” says the company.The five pillars of the strategy are: further expansion in shipping; the offering of efficient logistics solutions; faster innovation and digitalisation; the development of solutions that are more people- and planet-friendly; and support and guidance for all the Group’s staff members.CMA CGM Zambia offers transportation solutions to its customers not only through the most common corridors, but through all the possible ones.– Ugo Vincent“The CMA CGM Zambian team has significantly increased operations and volumes into the country the past few years.
