All Africa articles – Page 2
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FeatureContainerisation: Why finished vehicle logistics needs to think inside the box
While ro-ro is the traditional method of shipping finished vehicles, containerisation is becoming increasingly viable as the automotive industry decentralises and introduces more EVs. Growth in China and South East Asia offers particularly good opportunities
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FeatureDocking defections
Nigeria has lost its claim to being home to the busiest port in West Africa as a consequence of chronic traffic congestion, corruption and inefficiency. The crown has passed from Apapa, in the state of Lagos, to the port of Lomé, in Togo. Data from Dynamar, a Dutch maritime intelligence ...
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FeatureElectricity crisis hits South Africa’s automotive industry
Rolling power cuts across South Africa are threatening the automotive logistics chain, as the country’s overburdened state electricity provider Eskom struggles to meet the needs of business. Vehicle sales are down as consumer confidence has fallen and automotive manufacturers are keeping production going by sacrificing non-essential plant functions. President and ...
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FeatureMues new COO at Imperial Logistics
South Africa’s Imperial Logistics International has appointed Jürgen Mues from Swiss Railways as chief operating officer (COO) starting on March 15th.Imperial has strong operations with “unparalleled capabilities and track records” in their own fields, but few of them exploit their potential across all available locations, said CEO Hakan Bicil. “In ...
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FeatureVolvo starts shipments to Europe from Ridgeville
Volvo has started shipping S60 sedans to Europe from the US, six months after beginning production at its $1.1 billion assembly plant in Ridgeville, near Charleston, South Carolina.“Export markets are critical to the long-term success of our plant and we’re on track to deliver vehicles to our customers worldwide,” said ...
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FeatureSupply lines key to new Nissan plant in Algeria
Nissan is looking to develop a components supply chain in Algeria to support the construction of its new car plant in the North African country with local partner Groupe Hasnaoui.“Using our Japanese engineering expertise, we will build a manufacturing hub and work to develop the supplier industry,” said Peyman Kargar ...
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Partner ContentComing up with a strategy for transformation
CHEP has launched a strategy to support the digital transformation of its offerings and of the automotive supply chain, including vehicle electrification and tracking packaging assets
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FeatureHolger Wilhelm moves to Imperial Logistics
Holger Wilhelm has taken up a newly created role at Imperial Logistics as executive vice-president of automotive. Wilhelm moves from Ceva Logistics where he was vice-president of business development automotive in North America.He will now be based in Zurich, Switzerland and responsible for developing Imperial’s automotive presence in existing and ...
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FeatureVolkswagen to establish business in Ethiopia
German carmaker Volkswagen has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ethiopian government to establish its automotive business in the African country. Thomas Schaefer, head of Volkswagen Sub-Saharan Africa, signing the MoU with Abebe Abebayehu, commissioner of the Ethiopian Investment Commission, in Addis Ababa. With them are the president ...
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FeatureMercedes-Benz plans production in Egypt
Mercedes-Benz Cars is planning to build a car plant in Egypt with an as-yet-unnamed local business partner. Markus Schäfer, member of the divisional board of Mercedes-Benz Cars, production and supply chain (left) with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah El-Sisi“Egypt is an attractive and competitive location for production and supporting logistics,” ...
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FeatureNissan marks millionth export from Thailand
Nissan has marked its millionth vehicle export from Thailand, 20 years after exports first began from the South-East Asian country. The millionth vehicle exported was a Terra premium SUV. Foreign sales by the OEM from Thailand began with a Frontier sent to Australia in 1999. Since then, Nissan’s Thai assembly ...
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FeatureStepping up the pace
When Groupe PSA bought Opel/Vauxhall from GM in 2017 for €2.2 billion ($2.33 billion), Gefco was already providing logistics services for it. Then, when Opel/Vauxhall renewed its contract for fourth-party logistics (4PL) services with Gefco in October 2018 for a further four years, Gefco was tasked with finding further cost ...
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FeatureSovac starts assembling SKD kits for Audi in Algeria
Audi has begun assembling vehicles at the Relizane plant run by its long-time Algerian partner, Sovac, from semi-knockdown (SKD) kits prepared at the OEM’s Ingolstadt plant in Germany.“[All models] are built at the main plant in Ingolstadt and transported to Barcelona, where they are knocked down into individual assembly groups ...
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FeatureBMW supports cobalt miners in Congo
BMW has signed up to a pilot project to improve conditions for cobalt miners, their families and neighbouring communities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).With batteries in high demand given the boom in electrical vehicles, global companies such as BMW have been turning their attention to how cobalt ...
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FeatureRussia increases component exports
Several automotive manufacturers in Russia are increasing component exports in line with plans announced at the beginning of this year.Joint venture Ford Sollers has doubled the number of different part lines it exports to the EU to 100 this year (compared to 50 in late 2017) and said it plans ...
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FeaturePSA and Nissan boost vehicle production in Africa
Production of Opel’s Grandland X and the Peugeot 3008 from semi-knockdown (SKD) kits will begin at the PSA group’s new assembly plant in Walvis Bay, Namibia, before the end of this year. Meanwhile, Nissan has revealed it aims to be the first carmaker to assemble vehicles in Ghana.PSA’s Walvis Bay ...
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FeaturePeacing together new logistics
The end of a longstanding conflict in the Horn of Africa is set to create new pathways into one of the potentially richest automotive markets in the continent; after two decades, Eritrea and Ethiopia have concluded a conflict that has cost hundreds of thousands of lives. The catalyst for peace ...
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FeatureEuropean ro-ro providers to gain from Africa interest
Grimaldi says Chinese investment in ro-ro services in North Africa is more of a threat than an opportunity for European operators
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FeatureBlockchain can disrupt the auto industry
Blockchain has built its reputation as a distributed ledger platform, which provides a framework for securely using and trading cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin. However, its potential extends far beyond financial services.The functions of blockchain could cater to other sectors to create more transparency and deliver greater efficiency. One example is ...
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FeatureDon't hope for a trade war truce
Escalating trade wars look set to be the new risk frontier in the automotive supply chain. With countries and trading blocs starting to retaliate against US moves to raise tariffs, open trade borders are closing in quickly. On July 6, 2018, the US began imposing a 25% tax on $34 ...