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If you are a business owner anywhere in the world, chances are that you have used commercial trucks to transport goods. The trucking industry transports more cargo than railroads, ships or planes in the world. In fact, commercial trucks are necessary links in the logistics chain to move goods from rail yards, ports and airports to their final destinations. If the trucks of the world were to stop running, the world economy would come crashing down.
The Trucking industry: Irrespective of size, all businesses have relied on the freight industry in some way or another. Transporting goods via trucks is an efficient way to ensure faster delivery times. Trucks are an integral part of the logistics cycle - from delivering raw materials to manufacturers to transporting finished products to the marketplace or for further transport via other transportation channels like ship, airplane, or train to destinations around the region, the country or the world.In a landlocked country like Ethiopia, trucks are often the only viable solution to transporting goods to various parts of the country as well as internationally.
Opportunities in Ethiopia: As part of its Growth and Transformation Plan, the Ethiopian government aims to encourage foreign investment opportunities, primarily in the agricultural and industrial sectors while developing infrastructure in four industrial cluster zones. Another area of priority is expanding road networks throughout the country. As a result, the government is investing heavily in varied projects from increased road building to making a push in the energy sector, improving basic social services to providing an impetus to the agriculture sector. The exports have been diversifying to include oil seeds, flowers, gold and, increasingly, textiles and leather products. This indicates an increase in manufacturing especially in the apparel sector. The country has also been attracting significant investments from various multinational companies keen to exploit the tax incentives and favorable regulations in high-priority sectors, such as construction, tourism, agro-processing, manufacturing, textiles and mineral and metal processing. As a vital cog in the logistics machinery for all these industries, there are opportunities galore for the trucking industry and a considerable boom in business for truck dealers in Ethiopia.
Challenges: As a developing nation, there are certain constraints to the growth of the commercial road transport industry in Ethiopia. Despite the considerable expansion of the road network in Ethiopia, the road infrastructure in Ethiopia is still insufficient to support the present growth in the economic activities leading to highly congested roads and a significant road traffic accident rate (one of the highest in the world). The lack of connectivity in the hinterlands and the distances involved, increase the domestic transport costs. Most of the fleet is old and poorly managed except for the party and government enterprises dominating the market. Availability of skilled manpower is a challenge. Further, the customs tariff on trucks and spare parts is high. Prices of locally produced trucks are even higher. However, the Ethiopian government is consistently taking steps to alleviate these problems.
As a reputed distributor of trucks and spare parts, SMAG Ethiopia, the company's representative office in Ethiopia all set to contribute to the expansion of the trucking industry and support the growth of the Ethiopian economy. The SMAG Ethiopia office based at Nega City Mall, Addis Ababa provides world-class products and services and supports sales, technical & parts staff with access to an extensive distribution center located in the UAE; all of which is ISO 9001 accredited. More information about the products provided is available at Etisalat Yellowpages.
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