Steering transformation, ensuring inclusivity and making way for diversity at Barloworld Automotive & Logistics is Nosipiwo Ngxabazi

Distribution Manager, Amelia Holtzhausen proves that life can take a much rewarding turn when you least expect it.

With aspirations to become a Paediatrician, a dream her parents instilled in her from a very young age quickly changed when she was not admitted to pursue a medical degree at the University of Pretoria. She later opted for a BSC in Medical Sciences, however, fate proved otherwise and she found herself in the job market with an Honours degree. Faced with the challenge of gaining entry in the medical field, Amelia did what most graduates do – go into different industries while they look for employment in their field of study.  She ended up at Barloworld Logistics as an Inbound Clerk, a role she enjoyed to a point that she gave up looking for a job in the medical field and was ready to explore the possibilities that came with Warehousing and Logistics.

African economies have in recent years experienced a surge in business activity, thanks in part to the emergence of an increasingly prosperous middle class. This consumer boom has not only strained retail supply chains but has placed overwhelming demands on national utilities.  The World Bank states that more than 25 African countries face an energy crisis, yet the continent abounds with untapped renewable energy resources. Throughout the continent, electricity supply is constrained, and often erratic with damaging ramifications to local economies and crucial infrastructure such as hospitals, telecommunication networks and water supplies to name a few. These challenges within the energy sector are exacerbated by the absence of contemporary energy services and more often than not, poor infrastructure. The need, therefore, to seek out alternative energy solutions is now an imperative for the continent. 

In the era of innovation and connectivity the idea of an economy built from autonomous industries attending to their own clients with their own suppliers is fast becoming outdated. More and more, savvy organisations understand that operating in isolation is no longer viable, and that by partnering across, or indeed within industries, higher efficiencies, cost reductions and improved customer service can be achieved. A good example of such collaboration is the symbiotic relationship  between two competing technology giants Samsung and Apple Inc, where the electronics manufacturer is a key supplier of IPhone micro chips and the like. Such symbiosis is a true case of how the seemingly direct competitors in fact can benefit from collaboration in order to function at their full potential.