Bridgestone’s fleet management solution, Webfleet, is launching its third African presence in Botswana, by partnering with Kgare Digital. This expansion it is set to bring high-end tech skills, much-needed investment and jobs in the country.
Webfleet’s partnership in Botswana joins the company’s presence in South Africa and Namibia, the first two African markets where Webfleet started to conduct business in order to improve logistics client business efficiency, while contributing to the safety of road users.
“Being part of Bridgestone, we recognised the opportunity to leverage the companies’ large African presence to expand the telematics and connected vehicle solutions we provide as well,” says Webfleet South Africa Sales Director, Justin Manson.
“With three markets now offering dedicated resources to transport and logistics customers in those markets, we feel it’s the right time to expand earnestly in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region,” he adds.
Telematics will provide a similar service to what is being offered in Namibia, from basic vehicle tracking to comprehensive fleet management, including live diagnostic data collection and real-time route optimisation.
Additional advanced solutions, like onboard cameras and other hardware, will be brought in on an as-needed basis, or from customer requests.
Whichever grade of solution they opt for, customers can expect to see improvements in fuel and maintenance costs, safer drivers and road users, and a boost in productivity.
In Botswana, Webfleet has partnered with Kgare Digital, the on-the-ground team that will provide sales capabilities, training, and delivery of services.
Kgare Digital General Manager, Malebogo Busang, says the investment by Webfleet will not only provide quality jobs in the sector, but see the beginning of a new sector.
“I think we are at a good state of readiness from a sales perspective and we already have a team of technicians, IT support, finance and other admin functions,” Busang says. “Tracking services are still very new to the market, so this team will be part of the vital journey to build advanced capabilities in telematics and the logistics sector.
“As a landlocked country, Botswana imports almost everything we consume, mainly using road transport through the two ports of entry, Namibia, and South Africa. This presents the perfect opportunity to implement the necessary digitisation of vehicles, to run more intelligently and efficiently,” she adds.