Geoffrey White talked to Africa.com in the run-up to the World Economic Forum for Africa in Durban about the importance of building strong logistical frameworks throughout the continent, the challenges of politics, policy and development, and empowering Africa’s young entrepreneurs.
Poor infrastructure and a lack of logistical systems is a serious thorn in Africa’s paw – without decent ports, warehouses, manufacturing centres and the roads to connect them, the continent will consistently struggle to move goods to market, and become globally competitive. Logistics’ company, Agility Africa has been tackling these challenges by building a network of manufacturing hubs across the continent in regions that have the trickiest access to some critical resources needed to grow new business, namely keeping the lights on, keeping the internet up and running, and providing a safe and secure environment to work.
‘Many people ask if those things even make a difference,’ says Geoffrey White, CEO of Agility Africa. ‘The truth is that in an African context it does. Some of the key criteria that people wanted fixed, not just local companies but big international companies as well, is creating an environment where businesses can just get on with it and do their business and not worry about these basic things… when the lights aren’t on it has a huge impact on business.’
Agility’s manufacturing hubs have been springing up across Africa, the latest in Ghana, and have also offered an opportunity for smaller manufacturing start-ups to utilise these international-quality manufacturing premises without incurring the huge costs of building their own factories, significantly lowering the barriers to operating at a larger scale.
Geoffrey White, CEO of Agility Africa, is an expert on infrastructure development, retail supply chain and investment in Africa. Agility, a leading global provider of integrated logistics and related infrastructure, has $5 billion in revenue, 24,000 employees, and offices in more than 100 countries. Mr White is a member of the Agility Strategic Advisory Board.
Geoffrey addressed several panels at the World Economic Forum for Africa focussing on the future of production across Africa, connecting markets and moving people and goods through the continent. He also talked about building trust and developing blended finance models that can boost investment in logistical infrastructure development across key sectors.