Freight forwarders are not insurers, yet they take major risks on behalf of their clients/customers. Vice-President, DHL Global Forwarding, Mr. Dominique von Orelli, on a visit to Nigeria last week, spoke with RASHEED BISIRIYU on this and other challenges
What is your impression about Nigeria, having been in the country for a few days?
I must say that I have enjoyed the hospitality of the people. I found the people very open and welcoming. On the other hand, I saw how massive the country is, with so many people and obviously, some complexities come with that. For instance, you have to experience traffic congestion in a number of places, especially when travelling some distance. But, overall, I think it is very positive.
What is your assessment of the freight forwarding business globally?
We are operating in a challenging environment, with a lot of political and economic complexities. In the forwarding industry, there is a huge growth opportunity for companies like ours with a global footprint. This is because a lot of customers want to focus on their core businesses and leave the logistics in the hands of experienced freight forwarders. But I must stress that it is a challenging environment. The good thing for us is that we are well positioned to overcome the challenges.
What are these challenges confronting the operators in the industry?
There are thousands of companies doing the freight forwarding business and everybody is trying to get a piece of the cake. We have political constraints in some countries. Different nations have varied economic issues they have to contend with. There are the problems of natural disasters in Asia and some other areas. As freight forwarders, we have to move creatively to help the customers and ensure their businesses are not grounded. We also need to restore the supply chain as soon as possible.
And one of the major challenges we face is adapting to the changing situations such as the security arrangement and sometimes airlines' restructuring.
In Nigeria, there is the problem of congestion at the ports. As a growing economy, the issue of inadequate and obsolete infrastructure is gradually being addressed through major equipment rehabilitation and modernisation. Some firms have ordered for certain items and they want to meet a target. As a freight forwarder, it is our duty to get those items into the country as quickly as possible and get them cleared through the port.
What is the input from the industry to the ongoing economic transformation in developing nations like Nigeria?
It is no secret that some of the old economies are struggling; but there is plenty of growth. We want to be part of the growth in Africa. For us, Nigeria is on the top of our business chart. We are looking at the size of the country with its huge population. This is a place we love to be as a company and we are building our infrastructure here. Our focus on Nigeria is basically because of what is happening here; as well as what's happening elsewhere. We see a big growth here. The boom in the telecoms industry and the steps being taken by the government to restore the power sector will drive the economy and make it very buoyant. Our customers move around going to where the action is. They come to Nigeria. And it is just natural that we move with them to take care of their logistics issues.
How much of Africa do you really cover?
We are in 22 African countries, while our sister company DHL Express is in 52 companies. We do cover Africa extensively.
What is difference between your operation in Nigeria and other countries?
We operate standardised processes. I don't see any major difference. It is a business that is operated using the global standard. That is why we can redeploy some workers from Europe to Africa or from Africa to Europe or Asia and they will fit into the system perfectly. However, the countries may have slight Customs procedures. We have to adapt to local legislation.
You have just been appointed the DHL Global Forwarding sponsor for Nigeria; what does this portend for the country?
It simply means that Nigeria will get a lot of visibility within our company and connected to our reach, 62 companies. With me being the sponsor of the company in Nigeria, my role is to publicise the Nigerian team internally and make sure that the voices of Nigerians get heard in the international arena.
A lot of the time, I have to come to see the customers in the country and bring the unity among the global customers. I will interact more with the customers and get Nigeria on the global map. I should be able to promote the brand in Nigeria and make sure the country is understood by explaining some of the constraints. We do this because of our interest to develop and help our customers to grow well. It is basically a commitment.
We adopt the sectoral approach for customers' interaction. We do sectoral conferences such as technology, oil and gas conferences, where we invite experts to talk on the issues. For instance, when there is any change in legislation, we bring in experts to educate the customers on this.
We also produce technical publications that can help the people and give the quick way to deliver.
We have set out to deliver excellent service. DHL is known for that. We also want to be competitive. We conduct our business with strict compliance with the laid down regulation.
What attracted DHL Global Forwarding to Nigeria?
We have been here for a long time. We came to Nigeria in 2005; that's eight years ago. It was the potential that we saw here. You don't need to be a scientist to see the potential. We saw the enormous need to be here, Johannesburg, South Africa, being the head office of our African business.
And since we came, the brand has been doing well; we have a very good reputation here. We also saw a lot of companies coming to Nigeria, many of them being our customers. We want to grow with them. We are here to stay.
How did you get involved in freight forwarding?
A lot of people would say they got into some job or career by accident. Mine was not an accident. I actually went for the study. I attended the career talk; I went through some coaching to try to figure out what I should go into. I got excited by the freight forwarding job and went for it. I am a home-grown freight forwarder.
What has been your experience at the DHL Global Forwarding?
I grew up in this company. Some people said I was born in the warehouse. It is not true; I wasn't born in the warehouse. I will celebrate my 30th anniversary in the company next year. It is a great place for young people to grow their career. It offers so much in the area of education to young people.
I started in 1984, moved to Autralia, Paris, Geneva and US. And since five years, I have been in this position at the head office in Switzerland. I have never been in a position for more than five years. I really want to become an African expert.
In comparison with Europe, here in Nigeria, you need to get extremely close to the customers. The customer wants to see things.
Did you ever have any call by other firms to leave the company during this period?
The company's offer is fantastic. We have a name in the industry; it always offers continuing education and that is exciting to the workers. If a company gives you love, you give love back to the company. This is how we attract talent make the people to stay.
So, it is normal for your competitors to try to lure you into their companies because we have a standard. But I have no reason to leave.
What is your most difficult moment?
The company has gone through a number of changes, transformation and that would definitely affect the people; of course nobody likes change. We have to explain why we making the changes. This was a difficult moment for me. It was not really tough but challenging. I never had to go through war or natural disaster.
