90 Years of Logistics Innovation

This year, Manica Group Namibia celebrates its 90th anniversary, making it one of the longest serving logistics companies in Southern Africa and the oldest in Namibia.
“It is indeed a great honour to be the longest serving Namibian logistics company. Manica today is the product of the foresight and determination of Theodore ‘Tetje’ Woker, who started a humble shipping and forwarding company in partnership with Walter Maertins in a small two-room building in Walvis Bay on 1 October 1924,” said Manica MD, Hans-Werner Timke.
“It is his vision, humility, flexibility, innovation and the pursuit of excellence that are the key ingredients of our success and the foundation on which Manica is built and continues to grow,” Timke emphasised.
Today, Manica is known for its one-stop-shop logistics approach, offering services including customs’ clearing and forwarding, warehousing, shipping, transport, cargo-handling, oil and gas support, ships agency, lubricants, bunkering and airport ground handling support. A far-cry from the early days of basic goods clearances, ship husbandry and coal-bunkering for steam ships!

“Manica has grown and transformed tremendously over the last few decades. Last year, we started a business centre that provides office-away-from-home facilities replete with the auxiliary support of visa applications, travel arrangements, accommodation bookings, airport shuttles and a car rental service. With the recent oil and gas exploration drilling campaigns we further expanded our portfolio with a sourcing and trading division that specialises in sourcing marine equipment and spares,” Timke noted.
Earlier this year, Manica partnered with Danish bunkering company Monjasa to provide bunkering services along the Namibian coast and started a specialised transport wing in its freight handling and warehousing division.
“No business can exist without its customers. Similarly, without the support and loyalty of our customers over the past 90 years, Manica would not have reached the heights and successes it has, nor could we have weathered the storms as well as we have. We look forward to the next 90 years of providing unsurpassed quality marine and freight logistics services. Our promise, as it was in made 1924, remains that we are your ultimate choice in logistics solutions,” he added.