Logistics and transportation are often cited as sectors that present some of the best investment opportunities in Africa.
A leading homegrown Angolan transport and logistics firm wants to be part of that conversation as competition mounts from local and foreign firms seeking a piece of African business.
Based in Luanda, Antonio J. Silva Transport and Logistics (AJS) is diversifying and reaching out to markets such as the U.S. to tell its story. Heading up that effort is Luis Silva, the second-generation CEO of the 40-year-old company.
Forbes described Silva as part of new generation of entrepreneurial leaders that has emerged in Angola.
AJS grew almost 50 percent over the past two years, the company said in a press release.
Its No. 1 customer is state-owned Sonangol, which oversees Angola’s petroleum and natural gas production. AJS transports fuel for Sonangol, bulk cargo and perishables for the Angolan Armed Forces, and dry cargo and fuel for Angolan mines.
Founded in 1974 by an entrepreneurial couple, the company started with a shop in Luanda that grew into a distribution hub for vegetables and beer production. Inspired to create a transportation company during the Angolan Civil War, Antonio J. Silva Transport and Logistics was the only company operating out of Luanda for years. Constantly under attack, the family-owned company didn’t just survive.
It now has a fleet of more than 200 new Volvo trucks providing full-service solutions for transportation, integrated logistical services, stock control, cold storage, and door-to-door transportation.
AJS claims to be Angola’s No. 1 logistics provider, focusing on heavy machinery transport, container transport, fresh products and other consumer goods in Angola and sub-Saharan Africa.
The company has established a presence throughout Angola with strategically localized logistics centers.
It also has competition.
Silva and others say the company’s survival, longevity and perseverance are a badge of honor for Angola, WorldFinance reported. Today, the company is still family-owned and operated by Silva and his siblings.
In 2015, Silva was nominated for Deloitte’s 2015 Sirius Entrepreneur Prize for the Angola region. He didn’t win. The Entrepreneur of the Year Award went to Agostinho Kapaia of the Opaia Group, according to AngolaToday.
Silva spoke to AFKInsider through an interpreter about how the company is differentiating itself and how he wants to expand Antonio J. Silva Transport and Logistics.
Most of the boots-on-the-ground companies that provide transport in Angola — 98 percent of them — are local to Angola, Silva said.
The logistics side is dominated by foreigners including DHL, the world’s largest logistics company based in Germany; and UPS, the world’s largest package delivery company based in the U.S.
“It’s about expansion,” Silva told AFKInsider. “In the past seven-to-eight years, (we’ve been) really focusing on the logistics arm. Integrating the logistics with transport will make us stand out from competition.”
DHL and UPS usually handle more day-to-day mail rather than the heavy transport of cargo and machinery that Silva’s company focuses on, he said. “In Angola we’re competing with local transport companies and also international names. To date we’ve been able to hold on and expand on the logistics side.”
Antonio J. Silva Transport and Logistics is diversifying. They’ve broken ground on a new trailer and flatbed manufacturing facility scheduled to begin production in September. They’ve invested in oil and gas, owning 10 percent of Onshore CON6 Block in the Congo basin, where they’re starting seismic studies prior to exploration. They’ve invested in renewable energy with the construction of a mini hydro. They’ve started doing paper goods manufacturing with products such as printing paper and paper towels. And they’re building tanks to transport petroleum products and trailers for moving containers and goods.
There are four siblings who handle different sectors of the company, and a good overlap in the employee knowledge base, Silva told AFKInsider. When skills are missing in Angola, the company hires people from outside the country, importing knowledge and experience.
Existing employees are growing in the company to cover different sectors, Silva said.
Most of the company’s international business is with Portugal and Brazil — “not the U.S. yet but we definitely want to start working with someone in the U.S.,” Silva told AFKInsider.
In Africa, Antonio J. Silva Transport and Logistics is expanding activities in Namibia and Congo by opening subsidiaries there with a fleet a trucks. They do business there by way of Angola, transporting to those countries but don’t have an existing office space yet.
The type of cargo they transport outside Angola? “Rice, concrete, machinery — basically everything but petroleum,” Silva said.
AJS is keen to do business with U.S. energy companies doing business in Africa. Currently it doesn’t do business with any U.S. companies in Angola.
There’s a vast spectrum of opportunity for U.S. companies in Angolan agriculture, energy, and infrastructure, Silva told AFKInsider.
“We are probably one of oldest logistics companies and always open to potential partnerships from the outside within the sectors that we cover,” Silva said.
