Trade Ocean’s Johann Swiegelaar and Sherika Perumal recently travelled to Zimbabwe to meet with all the role players connected with the export of Macadamia nuts. This followed Trade Ocean closing the deal on the project in November last year.
True to our African continent, it has been clear from the start that this job will be challenging and interesting.
After a successful meeting with our client and the cartage operators, a service level agreement was closed and the first load of 34 tons of nuts has already crossed Beit Bridge border post en route to Durban.
The challenges are not so much the availability of equipment or customs procedures, but rather that infrastructure is not desirable with roads being in poor disrepair and mobile reception weak at best. The farm that we’re dealing with still works with an open telephone exchange system and a live operator!
Harare is a typical third world capital – the roads are shocking and even the hotels, as good as they may be advertised, are truly shabby. The people however, are hospitable and generous, laugh a lot and poke fun at their own expense…
The nut exports project is now ongoing and it will take a lot of patience and time to ensure that our client in Australia enjoys the levels of service that Trade Ocean is known for.
