OnePort 365, a tech-enabled freight management start-up on Wednesday, August 11th, 2021 held a virtual media parley at its Marina headquarters. The virtual event was hosted by Mr. Yomi Owope who introduced OnePort 365 to the media. Core members of OnePort 365’s team namely; Hio Sola Usidame, Co-founder; Dolapo Fasina, Marketing, and Communications Manager; Morenike Jaiyesimi, Operations Manager; Olasunkanmi Olaniyan, Finance Manager; Seni Kester, HR Manager; Foluke Shaba, Sales Manager; Adebayo Adewunmi, Lead Software Developer were all present to share the mission and vision of the company.
OnePort365 was able to reintroduce and align itself with the media, as well as educate on service offerings, platform updates, products, and partnerships. OnePort 365 provides various unique solutions for clients and services that can be booked including Ocean Freight, Inland Logistics, Warehousing, Customs brokerage, and Terminal, and Marine Insurance. OnePort 365 was founded in 2019 to provide seamless containerized cargo transportation and other freight management services to its customers. They are a full-service international ocean freight forwarder and offer FCL shipping to multiple destinations. With inland logistics, they offer multimodal solutions for optimal planning. These include roads, rail, and barge haulage.
OnePort 365’s Operations Manager, Morenike Jaiyesimi, spoke on the locations where the company operates, she said “We have a workforce and clients presence across every geographical zone in Nigeria. We utilize Apapa and Tin Can ports in Lagos and PTOL and Onne ports in Port Harcourt to ship our clients’ containers and operate offices in Kano, Port Harcourt, and Lagos. We are also starting to build a footprint in Ghana.”
Hio Sola-Usidame; Cofounder, OnePort 365
The start-up co-founder of OnePort365, Hio Sola Usidame, stated that OnePort 365’s unique selling point is the unparalleled offering of the company’s digitized platform which is the automation of the import and export freight process. With the use of cutting-edge technology, customers can effortlessly take control of their transportation procedures. Customers can manage their paperwork more easily using OnePort 365 because they have a personalized dashboard. OnePort 365 prioritizes the security of its clients’ containers. In another statement, he addressed some of the challenges that affect businesses in freight.
Taking it from a visibility aspect, the data shows that in every ten containers going in and out of the port, about 2 or 3 get stolen or lost in transit. Commodities coming into the ports have little or no visibility and usually result in missing containers and/or trucks being vandalised.
Also, another challenge is getting container trucks into the port. This usually takes a longer time for trucks to gate into the port. This delay can be a major concern when handling perishable commodities.
For example, some yam or cocoa container shipments handled by a less than optimally efficient team can already have been in transit for a month. After which it is stuck at the port for maybe another 3 months without gating in. When the containers are finally loaded on the vessels, they are stacked on these perishable containers without being aware of the status of the cargo in these containers.
These then get to their destination and the buyers realise the goods have been destroyed. If we are going to constantly improve and encourage exports out of Nigeria, we need to be able to compete on the international stage, we need to improve on the transit and gate in time of containers.
We need to be competitive as a country and the first step is ensuring that our processes are streamlined as much as possible
He went on to say that these issues frequently act as a bottleneck for a number of enterprises that would otherwise benefit from uninterrupted access to global trade. OnePort 365 helps indigenous businesses build a rock-solid foundation for the future by simplifying what would otherwise be stumbling barriers. Nonetheless, he acknowledged that the government is making an impressive effort into simplifying the processes and solving challenges.
Freight Management Personnel Supervising Container Stuffing
Hio Sola-Usidame, in response to a question about OnePort 365’s cost-effectiveness, says: “If you can scale technology, it doesn’t have to be expensive. OnePort 365 are highly competitive and to a large extent they are more affordable than traditional freighting companies”.
Following a question on how the company handles the competition, he said: “There is a need to structure the freight forwarding system where the level of professionalism improves. We have many freight forwarders and clearing agents who are not licensed. If we can add structure to the supply chain process and are supported by regulators, it will go a long way in rebuilding a more reliable freight forwarding system. We see competition as an opportunity for collaboration. When it comes to process and technology, the difference is clear. Our shipment process is streamlined and simplified compared to how other industry players have structured theirs.”
OnePort 365 Lagos team
To close the media parley, Dolapo Fasina expressed gratitude to the media in attendance on behalf of OnePort 365 Management and encouraged everyone to help share the OnePort 365 narrative.