Obi Ozor, CEO & co-founder of Kobo360 writes on the Covid-19 pandemic and its effects on Kobo360 and the African logistics industry as a whole.

Kobo360's informal motto is to always "Keep Africa moving". When we started the company in 2017, our blueprint mapped out our expansion across Africa and our plan to facilitate the fluid movement of goods to drive growth and the development of our continent. Our tech-enabled platform connects and supports truck drivers, truck owners and companies by providing unprecedented efficiency in the supply chain, making intra-African trade seamless, less time consuming and significantly reducing costs.

Three years on, we have stayed true to our design with hubs in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Togo, and Uganda, and plans to expand across Africa, the Middle East and other emerging markets. Each expansion has presented new challenges which our resilient team has faced head-on, learned from, devised solutions to and kept it moving.

Today we are confronted with a new challenge on a global scale; Covid-19. The coronavirus is impacting all aspects of society and industry, presenting challenges that could have crippling effects on the global economy; effects that Africa is by no means immune to. We anticipate that we will start to see the full impact of the virus in approximately four weeks, therefore, the Kobo360 team has swiftly implemented measures to mitigate risk and ensure continuity. This continuity will safeguard millions of people who depend on the delivery of food, medical supplies, and sanitation goods that we facilitate. If we stop moving, the reality is, lives will be at risk and civil unrest will ensue.

We are fully aware of the importance we play in the markets we operate in, therefore, our timely response, technology and resources are keener than ever. And yes, whilst we are first and foremost a technology company, we are also a people company, working with ten thousands of drivers across the continent. While we remain fully open for business, the personal health and safety of our employees and drivers is absolutely critical to us.

We continue to follow the guidelines set out by the World Health Organisation as well as national governments in the countries we operate in to keep our staff safe. Due to limited supplies, we are partnering with manufacturers and distributors to source hand sanitiser and are working hard to educate employees and drivers on best practices for hand washing, social distancing and recognising Covid-19 symptoms.

We are intent on keeping Africa moving with as little disruption as possible and will maintain our practice of transparency to all our key players such as employees, drivers, transporters, suppliers and port authorities. Our standard of service will remain at the high level expected from us in what we know will be turbulent times ahead.

Africa; we can do this. Together we can 'Keep Africa Moving'.

Source: Kobo360

Our Correspondent

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