Billy Rodrigues has recently been appointed as the Managing Director of the Mozambique and Malawi regions and will be running the Bridge Shipping Group’s new facility in Beira, Mozambique. Rodrigues not only has 23 years experience in the container depot field in South Africa, but he has also been involved in freight forwarding in Beira for the past seven years.
His knowledge of the Beira Corridor, coupled with his experience in the tobacco and commodities markets, makes Rodrigues the perfect choice to head up this new asset to the Bridge Shipping Group. “The Bridge Shipping Group was one of the first tobacco agents in Beira. The new facility, comprising a 7 200 m2 warehouse and 8 000 m2 yard, is close to the Port of Beira. This makes it ideally situated to service import and export customers in Mozambique as well as the neighbouring countries,” says Colin Emanuel, CEO of the Bridge Shipping Group The decision to implement a comprehensive operation for the Bridge Shipping Group in Beira was based on the potential growth of both the Port of Beira and Mozambique as a whole.“There has been ongoing interest from neighbouring countries regarding the Port’s capabilities. It is considered as a reliable port and the Bridge Shipping Group believes that a permanent presence there is advantageous to all stakeholders,” Emanuel explains.
Rodrigues, who describes his management style as hands-on, says that a company is only as good as the people it employs. “Staff is the key to success. The manager is only as good as the team that works with him. The aim therefore is to source suitably qualified people who have a knowledge of the logistics industry and the local environment. “The facility in Beira consisting of a warehouse 7,200 m2 and 8,000 m2 yard is presently under construction and expected to be operational towards the end of September 2012, we are currently interviewing potential employees and sourcing the equipment required at the facility. There will undoubtedly be challenges involved in implementing a structure that will guarantee a first class service but, with the support of Head Office, these will be overcome,” Rodrigues adds. Emanuel points out that the Beira operation forms part of the Bridge Shipping Group’s strategic intent to grow and develop its southern African footprint. “We also recently opened an office in Tete and this will be followed by facilities at Nacala and Pemba in the future. I will be responsible for coordinating these operations and ensuring that all four facilities assure our customers of the best possible service levels.”
