Chief integration officer, Cobus Rossouw says that the partnership will ensure that the logistics and supply chain group - and its clients - are well placed to reap the benefits of mushrooming trade between the two fastest growing regions in the world. China-Africa trade alone, according to analysts, could grow to $385 billion by 2015.
"The companies' expertise and service offerings are complementary. This JV produces a team with the ability to build a seamless distribution channel from China - and other Asian, low cost manufacturing countries - to Africa, and vice versa."
The relationship fits within the company's Africa strategy and provides capabilities that will further solidify both partners' presence in the mining, construction and industrial sectors. "We can support manufacturing up-time, capital project feasibility and cost optimisation. This is possible through sourcing, delivering and managing competitively priced, high quality goods. Such wares include raw materials, consumables, MRO items, construction material and capital equipment. The Beijing Axis' experience and expertise in low cost country sourcing and international logistics will support our clients and expand our ability to serve their needs in Asia-Africa business initiatives."
The joint venture also cements its position as a leading provider of logistics services for Far Eastern suppliers to Africa.
Similarly, with an on-the-ground presence in Asia, the partnership will also provide strong support to companies that are looking to expand into the high-growth Asian region by offering a strategic and operational 'soft landing' to companies that are aiming to grow exports or establish a presence in Asia.
It is particularly in the areas of procurement and strategy that The Beijing Axis will augment the company's service offering. Its four principal operating areas are commodities, capital, procurement, and strategy. Since its establishment in 2002, The Beijing Axis has worked successfully with many international and Chinese multi-national corporations - across various sectors and industries, with a core focus on the mining and resources, industrial, infrastructure and engineering sectors.
Group MD, Kobus van der Wath elaborates, "The Beijing Axis' work is always cross-border - supporting international firms as they act in unfamiliar territory in China and Asia, or supporting Chinese and Asian firms as they venture out and 'go global'." It has offices in China, Singapore, Australia and South Africa.
"As one of the first regions visited by Chinese President Xi Jinping, Africa obviously holds a very important place in the country's agenda. Apart from providing the wealth of raw materials that China needs in order to support its domestic development, Africa provides untold opportunities for Chinese companies, many of which are actively reshaping the continent's landscape as part of a complex partnership that has reignited and vastly expanded ties from a previous era."
"Our joint venture reflects the company's commitment to ensuring that our clients are positioned to take advantage of global megatrends like the shift of economic and political power from West to East, and from developed to developing markets. The Beijing Axis' low cost country sourcing expertise combined with the international supply chain management capabilities of our company boosts our clients' chances of success in ventures between China, the rest of Asia and Africa," Rossouw concludes.
