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The Man Who Founded One Of Africa’s Luxurious Trains

Benji Coetzee is changing the face of the freight transport industry, one truckload at a time.
She is the Chief Executive Officer of EmptyTrips, a technology that connects and matches spare capacity on vehicles to those who need goods transported.
This innovation, launched last year, has helped optimize the movement of goods on the roads and on rail, in a cost-effective way.
“The essence of the business was to try and reduce this problem called empty trips,”says Coetzee when we meet her.
Two years ago, Coetzee, a seasoned management consultant largely focusing on the industrial sector, founded SeedPitch, a niche consultancy, of which she is still the Head Strategist.
With her R2 million ($148,000) in savings, she then embarked on EmptyTrips.
According to Coetzee, transporting goods across the continent is complex and expensive. Regional integration between countries and trade facilitation are also challenges. But that’s not all.
“One of the biggest issues that they have is not that countries don’t talk to each other or allow the goods to move across the continent, but the actual transporters that move the cargo charge exorbitant rates. So that means other people won’t send their goods to other countries within Africa because it is just not feasible,” says Coetzee.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/investment-guide/2017/07/10/rapid-railway-yet-slow-ports/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read More: Rapid Railway Yet Slow Ports</a>
She took advantage of the big gap in the industry through EmptyTrips by matching a person/company with an empty cargo vehicle – with a fee that they think is reasonable – to a company which has goods that need to be moved.
“We have that better digital platform. We can negotiate better transport fees for those users. So that is the power of that platform. We bring those communities together and reduce the burden in that regard,” she says.
Like Uber and Airbnb before it, EmptyTrips is also a part of the sharing economy.
Coetzee employs six people and has had over 200 corporates test the concept and come on board.
“It has been very aggressive [since],” she says.
There has been one concern for her though; South African rail company Transnet that has not yet come on board for her venture.
“It was easier to lobby people from the trucking industry. But going into rail has not been that easy [because] you are getting into political aspects. You are working with state-owned entities,” says Coetzee.
“Give us your freight and let us try and get more freight off the road on to the rail. A lot of people underestimate how efficient rail can be, if only we could give it another chance.”
This movement of goods applies to all kinds of cargo.
“[What] the government could do in general for technology, not just my platform, is to enable the movement of mining cargo and agricultural cargo&#8230;What the government could do for us is to say ‘this platform becomes the norm for all cargo on behalf of the government’,” she says.
EmptyTrips’ integrated systems paired with smart algorithms matches demand and supply for transport across Africa, without having to get involved in customs regulations.
“Fortunately for us, we just deal with freight orders and clearing agencies so we don’t get involved in the customs issues. But once the cargo has a commercial invoice, it is matched to a transporter. It is very easy to get it across the border. That at least eases quiet a lot. It is when the transporter does not have the required documents that it begins to be quite problematic at the border,” she says.
Coetzee hopes other startup companies such as theirs would realize the importance of the resilience needed.
<blockquote>“I think it doesn’t matter how big or small your business idea or the industry is. I am trying to disrupt a huge industry. It is $8.1 trillion globally. That is huge!”</blockquote>
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/technology/2018/02/26/luggage-can-check/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read More: Luggage That Can Check Itself In?</a>
Not just resilience and persistence, proving your idea works is also crucial.
“I always say that the economy of ideas is rife. There are many people with ideas, but the idea does not matter, your proof matters. And your proof is, have you executed on it [business idea]?”
EmptyTrips is not just about ensuring that big corporations cut down on costs but it also allows small and medium enterprises to move their cargo efficiently. The impetus is smooth logistics and smart economics.
EmptyTrips could well become the Airbnb of the logistics industry, so it’s best to get on this train before it leaves.

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The Tech Disruptor On The Move

The inauguration of a $3.2-billion Chinese-funded railway, linking the port of Mombasa to the Kenyan capital Nairobi with future extension to the border with Uganda, promises to be a game changer. But only if sticky issues, such as harmonization of procedures and charges, in East Africa are sorted out.
Being part of China’s “One Belt, One Road” initiative that targets to upgrade maritime and land trade routes between China and Europe, Asia and Africa, the potential benefits of the railway are huge – not just for businesses in Kenya but the region as a whole.
With offers of haulage charges of $0.08 per ton per kilometer on Kenya’s new standard gauge railway (SGR), there is hope for bigger returns for businesses. For years they have had to endure the pain of costly road transport and equally expensive and unreliable service on a dilapidated railway system built by British colonialists more than a century ago.
“Today, the cost of transport along the northern corridor accounts for up to 45 percent of the goods and services in the region. The high costs make it hard for businesses to compete effectively on both the global and the local markets. We expect these costs to reduce significantly with the SGR,” the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) says.
Industry estimates show that hauling a 40-foot container from the port of Mombasa to the Ugandan capital, Kampala, by truck costs about $3,030 exclusive of handling and clearing fees – which captures why businesses long for cheaper options, such as an efficient railway.
Neighboring landlocked Uganda and Rwanda also plan similar SGR projects that would boost efficient haulage of cargo to the various sea ports in Mombasa or Tanzania’s Dar es Salaam and Tanga.
Nonetheless, authorities in East Africa must address all bottlenecks being experienced at the various gateway ports to the region if the SGR projects are to succeed. The challenges due to bureaucratic port procedures and conflicting charges have been a thorny issue for businesses and investors in the region.
Kenya and Tanzania that host the gateway ports have been under the spotlight for dragging their feet in the harmonization of their port procedures and charges to ease flow of shipment to landlocked states in East Africa.
A recent audit of operations at the Mombasa and Dar es Salaam ports confirmed hitches for
traders from Burundi, Rwanda and Uganda, which affected the overall performance of trade in the region. The matter was in fact formally tabled to the East Africa Community (EAC) leadership in 2015.
“The two ports could consider harmonizing their port charges, grace period and penalties, in view of the implementation of the EAC single customs territory,” Burundi said in a report to the bloc’s secretariat.
“The two countries should consider allowing clearing and forwarding agencies to go to work at Dar es Salaam and Mombasa ports.”
The two ports are the main gateways to East Africa and also service markets in South Sudan and the Great Lakes Region, handling key items including fuel, consumer goods and other imports as well as exports of tea and coffee from the region.
“Dar es Salaam and Mombasa ports, should establish one terminal for all transit containers for EAC countries. For example, you will see at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi that there is a window for EAC citizens only,” Burundi further said in its submission.
The effects of these bottlenecks have stirred other challenges for businesses in these landlocked countries in that they often resulted in accruement in storage charges by port authorities.
Uganda traders have particularly expressed their disappointment with the cargo clearance procedures at the port of Mombasa and accused Kenyan authorities of imposing a harmful non-tariff barrier by “selectively auctioning” Ugandan goods held at the key port.
Uganda also raised concern over increased impounding of suspected counterfeit goods, meant for its market, at the port of Mombasa.
“Lengthy, restrictive and unclear administrative procedures of licensing Uganda-owned container freight stations and warehouses in Kenya are non-tariff barriers (NTBs),” Uganda said in a recent audit report to the EAC secretariat.
The availability of key inland infrastructure along the SGR, such as cargo collection and drop-off points will also determine the success of the whole project. The container drop-off or collection points should be located strategically to make the railway competitive. &#8211; Written by Allan Akombo

Tag: railway

FORBES AFRICA SOCIAL MEDIA

The Man Who Founded One Of Africa’s Luxurious Trains

The Tech Disruptor On The Move

Rapid Railway Yet Slow Ports