COMPANY PROFILES: Grindrod Logistics Africa (Pty) Ltd

GRINDROD LOGISTICS AFRICA (PTY) LTD:

GENERATING NEW BUSINESS

On March 21st, 54 African countries signed a landmark trade agreement committing signatories to remove tariffs on 90% of goods and commit to the long-term goal of a single African market. A massive step in the right direction for Africa. Combine this with the ongoing growth for demand in East Asia, where Grindrod has developed plans for generating new business links, and the future looks bright for the company.

Grindrod: Unlocking Strategic Trade Corridors

We recently caught up with Grindrod Limited CEO, Andrew Waller, who kindly provided us with an overview of the company’s strategy and how he believes that Mozambique is set to benefit from flow-through trade that is being generated both along old strategic routes and newly opening strategic routes, in land-locked countries such as Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Botswana.

Overview of Strategy

Grindrod, first established in 1910 as a small clearing and forwarding agency in Durban, South Africa, has evolved into an integrated logistics service supplier and a Bank. Listed on the JSE, Grindrod is a global business, employing 4700 people throughout its divisions – Port and Terminals, Logistics and Bank.

Said Andrew Waller, CEO Grindrod Limited: “Grindrod was built on an entrepreneurial spirit, integrity, determination, hard work and a willingness to collaborate and form partnerships. It is this, together with our extensive experience that enables us to find efficient and smart solutions to complex logistics requirements. The continued global demand for African commodities underpins our strategic focus of unlocking key corridors in sub-Sahara Africa. This requires collaboration with key stakeholders, and investment in developing and extending freight infrastructure that benefits African trade. Grindrod’s experience in operating the Maputo Port, as well as strategically positioned terminals and rail networks has provided the foundation of progressing our strategy”. According to the company’s latest annual report, Grindrod are focused on unlocking the North/South Corridor - linking the DRC, Zambia and Zimbabwe to Durban and Richards Bay; Tazara Corridor - linking Dar es Salaam to the DRC and Zambia; Walvis Bay Corridor - linking the Port to the DRC, Zambia and Namibia; Chicualacuala Corridor - linking Zimbabwe and Zambia to Maputo Port; Komatipoort - linking Maputo to South Africa and the Nacala Corridor - linking the Nacala Port to Zambia, Mozambique and Malawi

Freight Services Division

Grindrod’s freight services division is its core competency. As Andrew tells us: “we offer services for the integrated movement of dry bulk, bulk liquid and containerised cargo along specific import and export corridors on the African continent. We provide road, rail and sea transportation, port operations, terminals,

“The strength of these relationships has allowed Grindrod to weather the turbulence brought by the Covid-19 Pandemic.”

intermodal solutions, storage, stevedoring, sea freight, ships agency services and integrated management services.”

Offering such a broad portfolio of services is a result of both anticipating and reacting to what the market demands. As Andrew notes: “A key component is the ability to partner with strategic customers and the relevant authorities. This approach is long term in nature and the collaboration between these key stakeholders is paramount to a successful investment decision. This approach and the shared commercial benefits derived ensures that all stakeholders collectively perform and execute on their respective commitments.”

Coronavirus

The strength of these relationships has allowed Grindrod to weather the turbulence brought by the Covid-19 Pandemic. Of this, Andrew says: “of course, we were impacted by the close of international borders and the legislation around essential cargo in South Africa, but the primary focus has been to safeguard our people and generate the cash needed to see out the lockdown period.”

He continues: “At the same time many contingencies were needed by customers and through flexibility and commitment to the customer we were able to execute on tailored solutions in all the countries we operate in. This approach has been well rewarded by our clients who have expanded their service relationships with Grindrod.” Another of the mitigating factors for Grindrod during Coronavirus has been its near total digitalization, which means that it was able to protect its employees against the worst of the pandemic.

CSR and Sustainability

With operations across sub-Saharan Africa, Grindrod is already responsible for bringing goods to and from some of the most underdeveloped areas in the world. It is conscious of its responsibility to the communities that live in these areas. Its CSR efforts are built on three pillars: economic, social and environmental and the company makes significant investments every year in all three.

These efforts were stepped up during the

Coronavirus pandemic, when communities needed help more than ever before. As Andrew says: “Grindrod has many community projects in the counties in which it operates, principally focused on education. During this Covid time our businesses have taken time to deliver food parcels and PPE related equipment to some of the poorest communities in the greater Maputo and Nacala regions.

The strategy defined

It will come as little surprise that a company which has grown so successfully over the past century has a solid strategy in place for the coming decade. Andrew tells us: “We are three pillars to our strategy. The first is the unlocking of trade corridors, which encompasses working with customers and supply chain partners to enhance efficiencies and freight flow in order to compete in global markets.”

“The second is connecting and extending Supply chains, which is both an internal and external strategy driving the need to expand the networks to enhance efficiency. Finally, the third pillar is investing and building infrastructure, which translates to rehabilitating or building new infrastructure required to unlock the trade corridor or extend the supply chains. Investments anchor our commitment to the customer and countries.”

The road ahead

Asked about his perspective on the future, Andrew responded: “These markets will be shaped, in future, by three main factors; economic activity in South Africa and its proximity to Maputo, economic activity in Mozambique’s landlocked neighbours and the Oil and Gas developments in Northern Mozambique.. These developments will have a substantial and positive impact on African trade. If and when that does occur, Grindrod hopes to be part of how it plays out.

GRINDROD

www.grindrod.com