Shipping company, Hapag-Lloyd, has opened a new office in Kenya, in its efforts to expand in Africa. The main business will be managed from the port city of Mombasa, but there will be an office in the capital, Nairobi.
The new office will be headed by Country Manager Prashant Sindhwani. 19 staff members will work in Mombasa, while 6 will be based in Nairobi and 1 in Uganda.
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.
Through the port of Mombasa, Hapag-Lloyd offers two different services. While the China Kenya Express Service (CKX) connects Kenya with Singapore and Shanghai, the East Africa Service (EAS2) connects the East African country with the west coast of India and Jebel Ali in Dubai.
“Kenya is the economic hub of East Africa and the most important growth region on the continent. By opening our new office in Kenya, we expect to continue our robust growth on the African continent,” said Dheeraj Bhatia, Senior Managing Director Region Middle East at Hapag-Lloyd.
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 commit to develop inland connections to Somalia, Southern Ethiopia and Northern Tanzania.
Rolf Habben Jansen, CEO at Hapag-Lloyd said, “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.”
The company now has five offices in Africa, including Kenya, South Africa, Egypt, Ghana and Nigeria, in addition to the recently opened Quality Service Center in Mauritius.