Despite the high maintenance costs, as a result of the poor state of the roads, by December, the company estimates to reach the number of 600 jobs, against the 142 created in 2021, as a result of new investments. There is no shortage of competition in a market that is considered open
The maintenance costs of the bus fleet of the company Huambo Express, which operates in the interprovincial and urban road transport segment, have a weight of more than 30%, compared to the other charges of the company. This detail was advanced by the general director of Huambo Express, Fabrício Herbstrith.
The manager says that these costs are related to the importation of parts and equipment for the maintenance of the buses. Meanwhile, he points out that the roads are causing high wear and tear on the fleet. “We have good roads on some stretches of the road, but in many places everything is bad. One of these roads is the one that connects Benguela to Huambo, where many of our vehicles pass. This fact means that maintenance has a lot of weight in our annual accounts, which can be above 30%”, he lamented. He stressed that, in view of the number of qualified drivers, they also represent a great weight.
As an example, he said that on the Luanda-Namibe connection they change drivers in three cities, namely Sumbe, Benguela and Lubango. To ensure the normal operation of the buses, Fábricio said that “at the moment a 40-foot container consisting of spare material is arriving from China. This is an expense of more than US$100,000,” he said, adding that the order is made up of glass, windshields, filters, tires and more, not to mention investments of US$1.3 million, and US$1.6 million for the acquisition of new rolling vehicles, in order to double the fleet, which went from 42 to 70 buses
500 million Kwanzas for each new terminal
As part of its expansion process across the country, Huambo Express is opening new passenger terminals, equipped with various services. The company is investing, on average, 500 million Kwanzas, according to Fabrício Herbstrith. “We are going to open terminals in Mbanza Congo, Luvo and Nzeto, in Zaire province, later this year, and in January next year, Uíge and Malanje will have terminals with interprovincial connections,” he said, adding that in December this year the Santa Clara terminal will be opened, in the province of Cunene, in the extreme south of the country, when Namibe recently saw its terminal opened. The average, in terms of jobs created, is 20 per terminal. “These investments have allowed us to go from 142 employees to 528 in two years of operations. By the end of the year we can reach 600 employees,” he admitted.
Healthy competition
The road passenger transport market is disputed by other companies, with Macon being the leader, in terms of rolling stock, connections around the country and terminals, in competition with Ango-Real, Rosalina Express, CB&B and others. On the subject, Fabrício Herbstrith says that “we have an open market where the provision of a satisfactory service will make all the difference”.
“But the market is good. We talk to our competitors and talk a lot about our activity,” he said. On the other hand, the manager believes that greater investment is needed in the transport sector, with the acquisition of more buses for the urban and inter-provincial segments, without neglecting the improvement of roads. “The land passenger transport sector in Angola is still fertile. It needs more investment in basic infrastructure, such as roads,” he said.
Source: O Pais