‘Security a priority in warehouse management’
Malawi’s Agriculture Commodity Exchange for Africa (ACE) chief executive officer, Kristian Moller, has assured members wanting to participate in the Warehouse Receipt System (WRS) that the structure is secured with less room for fraud.
Moller said this in Blantyre last week where ACE organised a workshop whose aim was to define the value, structure, operations and financing of commodities deposited against warehouse receipts.
“We want to broaden our scope and, as we are doing so, we want to assure all the interested partners of how secure our system is. We have a system in place, but to make sure we are on the safe side, among others, every transaction that is made is able to be verified manually,” said Moller.
He said ACE has a certification and situation management of their warehouses.
“We are aware that we are keeping commodities and that is why we have invested a lot, not only in the security of the warehouse, but also in the general aspects , including insurance,” added Moller.
He said their personnel are always on the ground, ensuring that the system is intact and has tonnage of commodities being supported in the warehouses.
Moller also said ACE wants to broaden the scope by indulging in soya beans, adding that, of late, the only commodity that has been featuring highly is maize.
“ACE is contemplating on expanding the market to soya beans and that is one of the reasons ACE is here in Blantyre,” he said.
Currently, ACE has warehouses in Balaka, Dowa and Nathenje in Lilongwe.
The chief of party for Feed the Future, Bugie Sherchand, applauded ACE for the WRS initiative.
“The WRS is a very good initiative, one that enables the smallholder to have their needs met,” he said.
Sherchand said the meeting was crucial for the growth of a country because smallholder farmers are the biggest drive to an economy and they need to be supported.
“The banks are also very important because they provide the finances while transporters take the goods to and from the market. Without the other, it would be difficult to achieve success,” she added.
The workshop attracted processors, commodity traders, banks, road transporters and freight forwarders.
