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THE FUTURE OF LOGISTIC TECH: The Launch of Kobo360 in Ghana

Feature Article L-R Tosin Adesipe Kobo360, Head of Tech, Enobong Kennedy Kobo360 Head of Marketing, Elorm Akoto Kobo360 Operations Manager, Ghana, Bilal Abdullah Kobo360 COO, West Africa low res
APR 18, 2019 LISTEN
L-R_ Tosin Adesipe (Kobo360, Head of Tech), Enobong Kennedy (Kobo360 Head of Marketing), Elorm Akoto (Kobo360 Operations Manager, Ghana), Bilal Abdullah (Kobo360 COO, West Africa) low res

Kobo360, an American company that uses technology to connect cargo owners, officially launched it's operations in Ghana on 4th April, 2019 in Accra, the country's capital. Kobo360 is a technology logistics platform that connects the supply of trucks with the demand for transportation services by cargo owners. The Kobo360 mission is to build the Global Logistics Operating System (G-LOS) that will power trade and commerce across Africa and Emerging Markets. Kobo360 ensures a reliable, safer and affordable platform that aggregates end-to-end haulage. Kobo360 operates to help cargo owners, truck drivers and cargo recipients to achieve an efficient supply chain framework.

As a tech-enabled logistics platform, Kobo360 solves the problem of unavailability of trucks to move goods from place to place. The company is disrupting the $150 billion Africa logistics industry, which still mostly relies on telephones, opaque pricing and a marketplace full of expensive middlemen.

Speaking at the official launch event in Accra, Chief Operating Officer - West Africa of Kobo360, Bilal Abdullah said, “We foresee great opportunities in Ghana - not just for us, but also for our clients and drivers. By moving into Ghana, we are connecting all of the markets and are building a global logistics operating system [G-LOS] that will support our clients in their quest to move their cargo around the continent.

“With Ghana’s port of Tema undergoing major expansion works in order to quadruple it’s handling capacity, we are anticipating demand for a safe, reliable and cost-effective delivery of goods, which is where Kobo360 will be instrumental.”

Through its all-in-one logistics platform, Kobo360 is able to use data and technology to match user requests with a selection of quality trucks of all categories. To-date, the company has moved over 297m KG of goods, serviced over 1,461 businesses and aggregated a fleet of over 10,000. Using a combination of its mobile technology and analytics, Kobo360 is fixing inefficiencies which exist in the road-based logistics business, delivering huge value and positive experiences to global logistics partners including Flour Mills of Nigeria, DHL and Lafarge.

With operations in Nigeria, Togo and Ghana Kobo360 is breaking difficult grounds in the logistics industry. With their technology logistics platform, Kobo360 is solving problems of companies and individuals by connecting supply of trucks.

Kobo360 were recently named “Disrupter of the Year” at the Africa CEO Forum awards and recently launched a new Global Logistics App, designed to enhance the speed, transparency and real-time monitoring of cargo delivery. By the end of 2019, Kobo360 is expected to be in nine African countries.

Aside providing a tech-enabled logistics platform for supplies and customers, Kobo360 is interested in the welfare of its drivers and customers. Head of Marketing, Enobong Kennedy, explained how Kobo360 offers welfare support for Kobo360 drivers and even their families.

In March 2019, Kobo360 successfully launched its operations in Lome, Togo, home to West Africa’s largest shipping port which handles six million tonnes of annual traffic. In a bid to make their logistics solutions accessible to all, Kobo360 extended its operations to Ghana. Ghana is a key trading and transport hub in Africa and has seen annual growth of 7.9%. Ghana’s Tema port is the third-busiest port in West Africa, behind Lagos and Lomé. Traffic to the Tema port reached 836,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2018, representing 90% of Tema’s container volume.

Tema is launching new port facilities scheduled to be completed in June 2019, and is expected to support the countries economic growth by providing 3.5 million TEUs.

As they enter the Ghanaian market, they are fortunate to be partnering with Olam Ghana and have been in beta operation with over 100 trips recorded.

Kobo360 were recently named “Disrupter of the Year” at the Africa CEO Forum awards and recently launched a new Global Logistics App, designed to enhance the speed, transparency and real-time monitoring of cargo delivery. By the end of 2019, Kobo360 is expected to be in nine African countries.

By
Justice Offei Jr.
[email protected]
Credit :
Ama Akorfa (Editor, TANOE Business)
Dexel Sagoe-Moses (Ghana Rep, Wimbart)

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