While the Investing in African Mining Indaba was a success by most accounts, the popular mining conference’s return on investment (ROI) will be closely monitored over the next few months by supply chain solutions provider Panalpina Panprojects Africa, which says that attending the indaba was an opportunity for stakeholders to network, resulting in meetings and opportunities that are being explored.

Panalpina Panprojects Africa head Arne Fayd’herbe believes that the indaba this year was well represented and growth in the event could definitely be noted in the turnout of business’s at the indaba, especially suppliers of the industry.

“It is always interesting to observe the diverse industries linked to the mining sector,” he adds.

Panalpina Panprojects Africa operations head Jen Byrne notes that, for South African participants, the indaba is expensive to attend and that a solution must be found to promote local industry growth.

“A possible idea is to have various pricing packages that cater to individuals who want to attend in their private capacity or as representatives of a company, instead of delegates being limited to just one pricing plan,” she suggests.

Nevertheless, Fayd’herbe says that meeting the decision-makers and learning more about their businesses and participating in new opportunities were some of the highlights for the company at the indaba as first-time exhibitors.

Moreover, owing to the significant amount of exposure the company received in just four days, Panalpina Panprojects Africa intends to continue exhibiting in future.

“We are looking forward to next year’s indaba and to the opportunity to further grow our footprint at this event. It is definitely a key event on our agenda,” says Fayd’herbe.

He says the indaba enabled Panalpina Panprojects Africa to highlight the company’s African footprint and continental visibility, thereby reassuring clients of its expanding operational capacity in Africa.

Byrne says the indaba provided a platform for the company’s key clients, including engineering firms and project owners, which were able to exchange the latest information on their projects’ evolution.

About Panalpina Panprojects Africa

Panalpina Panprojects Africa is an international project logistics solutions provider that is regarded as the specialised and dedicated project logistics division of Panalpina World Transport.

“We operate projects from liquid natural gas plants to refineries and mining projects, and are determined to operate any capital projects regarded as the main drivers of growth for Africa. Our services vary according to the project we are working on at a given time,” says Fayd’herbe.

The African division offers integrated door-to-door services, from factory to project, delivering services to any location in Africa, and evaluates the most feasible way to access cargo, regardless of whether it is transported by air, road or sea. The company also provides onshore and offshore security solutions as part of its integrated service offering.

“For instance, we moved five units of 970 t of cargo collectively from the door of a factory in Asia to the site location in Madagascar, including the rest of the project cargo, which amounted to 1.2-million tons,” says Fayd’herbe, adding that Panalpina Panprojects Africa has an engineering and freighting desk specialising in and dedicated to Africa-based projects.

Panalpina Panprojects Africa assists its clients from a project’s prefeasibility stage by offering them an overview of logistics possibilities, particularly in terms of exports and the operational phases of their commodity.