Hapag-Lloyd has opened a new office in Kenya’s capital Nairobi added to its main business in the country managed from the port city of Mombasa.
“Kenya is the economic hub of East Africa and the most important growth region on the continent,” says Dheeraj Bhatia, Senior Managing Director Region Middle East at Hapag-Lloyd. “By opening our new office in Kenya, we expect to continue our robust growth on the African continent.”
The new office will be headed by Country Manager Prashant Sindhwani with 19 staff members in Mombasa, six based in Nairobi and one in Uganda.
Via the gateway port of Mombasa, Hapag Lloyd offers two different services. The China Kenya Express Service (CKX) connects Kenya with some of the most important ports in Asia, such as Singapore and Shanghai, the East Africa Service (EAS2) connects the East African country with the west coast of India and Jebel Ali in Dubai.
Hapag-Lloyd also serves landlocked East African countries – such as Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and South Sudan – with regular inland connections to and from Mombasa. As part of its growth strategy, the shipping company will endeavour to develop inland connections to Somalia, Southern Ethiopia and Northern Tanzania.
“Our Strategy 2023 focuses not only on becoming the “Number One for Quality”, but also on selected growth markets worldwide. We see an enormous growth potential in Africa and will further invest into our services and selected countries,” said Hapag Lloyd CEO Rolf Habben Jansen,
Hapag-Lloyd mainly transports agricultural goods out of Kenya, especially tea, coffee, fruits and textiles. The imports primarily consist of chemicals, foodstuffs and a wide range of goods made of plastic or rubber.
With the opening of the new office in Kenya, Hapag-Lloyd now has five own offices on the continent in South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya. Additionally, Hapag-Lloyd recently opened its Quality Service Centre in Mauritius.
Source: Seatrade Maritime
