South African start-up DigiCargo is targeting ports across Africa and the Middle East with a software platform designed to replace paper-based vehicle tallying and improve visibility across roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) freight operations.
The company was founded by James Zwane and Marlon Murahwa in 2023 as a spin-off from software original equipment manufacturer Pace Online.
The founders note the idea dates back to 2018, when Pace Online presented a mobile tally concept to SA Cargo Services.
After developing a prototype and scanner application, DigiCargo entered full production in 2024, deploying its Stevedoring App in Port Elizabeth in January, followed by East London and Durban.
In an e-mail interview with ITWeb, Murahwa says the platform was developed in response to the continued use of paper tally sheets in RoRo operations, where vehicle movements involve multiple parties, including terminals, shipping lines and agencies.
“Our main client, SA Cargo, approached us with problems they were having in ports, having realised technology could relieve them,” he says.
The initial concept was designed to identify vehicles using scanners, but DigiCargo found that digitising the tally alone did not address broader operational problems.
“That’s what pushed us from a counter to a terminal platform, and eventually to software-as-a-service (SaaS),” Murahwa says.
Operational visibility
The Stevedoring App allows tally clerks on the quay to record a vehicle using a vehicle identification number scan, barcode, QR code, camera or manual entry. The process takes three taps and about nine seconds, while also capturing the vehicle’s location and driver, Murahwa explains.
He notes the platform is designed to operate offline because connectivity can be unreliable in port environments. Data is stored on the device and synchronised once connectivity becomes available.
Several crews can tally the same vessel simultaneously, with the results aggregated through an artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled web dashboard that provides supervisors with real-time operational visibility, he explains.
The system also includes digital twins of shipping yards and vessel decks, while incidents and exceptions can be recorded using GPS, video, images, voice and text evidence.
The dashboard uses AI to read shipping documents, identify vessels and map shipping yards. The platform also supports integrations through webhooks, REST APIs and the Model Context Protocol.
Murahwa points out that the objective is to provide smaller and mid-sized port operators with functionality traditionally associated with expensive terminal operating systems without requiring lengthy implementations or major infrastructure investments.
“RoRo operations at South African ports were being run on paper tally sheets. Not for lack of ambition – the alternatives were heavyweight terminal operating systems quoting multi-year rollouts and six-figure licences, which a mid-size operator cannot justify,” he says.
Paper-based processes contribute to human error, mis-shipments and disputes between terminals, shipping agencies and shipping lines, according to Murahwa.
DigiCargo’s main customer is SA Cargo Services, which imports and exports new vehicles through South African ports.
According to Murahwa, the company has recorded more than 700 000 vehicles across Durban, Port Elizabeth and East London.
The platform also tallies operations involving major shipping lines and manufacturers, including K Line, MOL, EUKOR, Sallaum, Wallenius Wilhelmsen, Höegh, Hyundai Glovis and NYK.
Murahwa reveals the company is in discussions with prospective customers in Ghana and plans to participate in the West Africa Trade Show in Accra this month as part of its international expansion.
Ports problems
Murahwa says South African ports continue to face significant challenges, although performance varies between individual facilities.
He points to the World Bank's Container Port Performance Index, which ranked Cape Town last among 400 ports globally, while Durban was the world’s most improved port.
He argues that the problem is not limited to infrastructure and equipment, but also involves how information is captured and shared between stakeholders.
“Most of the port’s work is done on paper and even suppliers that have digitised parts of their work are rarely integrated,” he says.
This is particularly problematic in RoRo operations, where there is no equivalent of the container industry's standardised TEU measurement system.
“In RoRo, the count itself is often still on paper,” he says. “That means no single source of truth between terminal, agency and shipping line, reconciliation at end of shift or end of voyage, disputes settled from carbon copies, and invoices raised off numbers nobody can independently audit.”
Murahwa believes digitising the count can provide a relatively low-cost way for operators to improve efficiency without investing in major new infrastructure.
“You cannot fix throughput you cannot measure. For an operator who can’t go out and buy a crane, digitising the count is the cheapest lever available – and it’s the one nobody was selling to them, because the big vendors never thought this market was worth serving.”
DigiCargo plans to scale through its SaaS model, allowing operators to subscribe online, configure the platform and go live without lengthy procurement processes. It runs on existing smartphones and rugged scanners, and requires no port-side infrastructure, Murahwa says.
The company is targeting Southern Africa first, followed by West Africa, East Africa and the Middle East. AI will increasingly be used to read shipping documents and legacy data and eventually recognise cargo on site.
Murahwa says DigiCargo’s ambition is to export technology developed to solve African logistics problems.
“This is African-built software solving an African operational problem, and we intend to export it rather than import a solution,” he says.
“Standardisation is exactly what a widely adopted platform creates. That’s the opportunity, and there’s no reason the company that captures it can’t be based here.”
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