Africa’s logistics industry remains fragmented, with informal carriers operating over 80% of the market with one to three vehicles. Still, Sehinde Afolayan, CEO of Haul247, believes his company is poised to become Africa’s Airbnb for trucks and warehouses. Haul247, a technology platform (PaaS) that connects companies to haulage and warehousing services, was recently announced as one of the Google Black Founder’s Fund grantees.
Founded in 2020 during the Covid-19 lockdowns by Sehinde Afolayan, Tobi Obasa and Akindele Phillips, Haul247’s founders believe that solutions to logistics in Africa that do not solve warehousing challenges will be more costly, inefficient, and risky.
Having gained over a decade’s experience in the African supply chain business, Sehinde Afolayan believes there is an urgent need to address the supply-demand mismatch in Africa’s logistics industry since the ecosystem lacks the capacity to optimise itself.
“Most companies cannot accurately predict and forecast since different vendors handle transportation and warehousing needs. This makes it hard for them to control, distribute and plan their logistics requirements effectively,” says Afolayan
Experts believe the value of all logistics assets, including infrastructure and vehicles, can easily account for half of an advanced economy’s GDP. However, Africa’s logistics sector continues to be hampered by a lack of supporting infrastructure, bottlenecks in service delivery, and a widespread informal approach to the logistics business.
In response to this, Haul247 was birthed after weeks of brainstorming to be the “Airbnb” for trucks and warehouses in Africa. Haul247’s value proposition is simple- a unique platform offering opportunities for clients to transport and store their goods in one logistics ecosystem.
According to Afolayan, “Most manufacturing companies in Africa concentrate their manufacturing hubs in one city and move or distribute their products to other cities and towns across the countries. Typically, truck owners charge manufacturers and shippers exorbitant fees since they have to absorb the empty return leg.
With Haul247, the system matches orders with available assets with our ‘Airbnb’ approach for trucks and warehouses. Partners are assured of reverse hauling, and shippers are charged less than they normally pay; this reduces transportation costs and guarantees efficient asset utilisation.”
Presently Haul247 has onboarded fourteen enterprise and FMCG businesses. The Nigerian startup also has over a thousand trucks on its roster, with about 150,000 sqm of warehouse space available across multiple locations.
But the company is not relenting in its objective. Over the next five years, Haul247 is looking to expand into other African countries. It is also working on upgrading its technology and integrating with key logistics ERPs to serve clients and partners better.
“Ultimately, we want to bring about 70% increased efficiency in the logistics industry across the continent, improve trade mobility across African cities and commercial hubs, and provide better storage and financial products for our users.” Sehinde Afolayan says.
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