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With some 30,500 km of highways, the road network is crucial to Mozambique’s economy, as agriculture is a major driver of economic growth and the local people rely heavily on roads to transport fresh produce, Saloodo!

"Despite the challenges, DHL’s Global Connectedness Index sees huge potential in Mozambique when it comes to the international movement of goods, capital, information and people," Saloodo said! CEO Middle East and Africa Tobias Maier.

"An efficient road freight network will give [the economy] an additional boost, as it is the most important trade channel within a geographically widespread country like Mozambique.

"Saloodo! will bring more transparency and efficiency to the road network by providing real-time visibility and enabling shippers to identify trustworthy and reliable carriers in Mozambique," Maier said.

"This in turn will help carriers manage existing fleets and optimize capacity for full loads," Maier explains.

Saloodo! is convinced that its service will also help to meet the high demands placed on the port of Maputo, both in Mozambique and South Africa, while providing a strategic advantage by providing transportation services from the ports of Nacala, Beira and Pemba, which are highly active in connection with oil and gas projects.

Saloodo! is the first digital logistics platform available in Mozambique that "provides a single, simple and reliable interface for shippers and transport providers to optimize costs, routes, freight and transit times in the best possible way," Maier said.

All contractual relationships on the platform will be organized through the existing local DHL unit.

The first African launch of the Saloodo! platform took place in South Africa in November.

Since 2017, the digital freight service has been active in both Europe and the Middle East.

The service has grown to more than 30,000 shippers and more than 12,000 forwarders in 35 countries worldwide.

How does the service work?
Saloodo! offers shippers and forwarders a central platform for road freight connections for both domestic shipments and international movements, explains Maier.

It enables business-to-business companies (shippers) to find verified carriers, and in turn helps forwarders to find suitable full truckload traffic to optimise their truck capacities.

The portal has a three-step process that enables them to find a carrier, create a transport request, receive confirmation of the request and track the shipment in real time.

There are no set criteria as long as customers have access to the portal and can successfully register to track the shipment.

"A carrier must undergo a detailed, country-specific verification process (depending on local regulations and requirements) to ensure that we only have reliable transport providers on the platform," says Maier.

"With Saloodo! you can ship all kinds of full truckloads, including containers. We are working on extending our services to partial truckloads of trucks soon.

"In the case of valuable, dangerous or theft-prone goods, shippers must inform Saloodo! of the specific transport request. Depending on the type and value of the goods and the current risks, we can thus connect them with the right providers who can meet the requirements of the particular shipment," says Maier.