DHL's renewed African focus driven by continent's growth

DHL has announced its renewed focus on Africa to move goods within the fast-growing continent and facilitate trade within the region.


The company said in a statement that it will focus on providing logistics services to the core sectors of oil and energy, industrial projects, life sciences and healthcare, aid and relief, as well as to the consumer segment.


"We're committed to keeping Africa well connected to the rest of the world while identifying new opportunities in the intra-African market," said Amadou Diallo, CEO, Africa and south Asia Pacific, DHL Global Forwarding.


Plans include the launch of a pan-Africa road freight service that will be connected by three main hubs in eastern, western and southern Africa to serve respective regions and help link the inter-regional movement of goods. Dubbed "Africa connect" the service will be offered from Mombasa and Dar es Salaam in the east, Spain and Morocco in the west, and Johannesburg and Cape Town in the south.


"A significant amount of growth in our business comes from small and medium enterprises (SMEs)," said Mr Diallo, adding that this group will be one of company's main focal points "as we look at how we can help these companies expand beyond current limits and leverage more opportunities in and out of Africa."


Mr Diallo also said the company already serves South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana three to five times a week by air, offering 2,000 tons of air freight capacity a month.


"We welcome the ongoing infrastructural investment by governments in the east African community, and especially Kenya, because this will have a significant multiplier effect on regional communities," he said.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)