Hapag-Lloyd is continuing to grow in Africa, as the German shipping company today opened a new office in Kenya. While the main business will be managed from the port city of Mombasa, the company will also have an office in Nairobi, the country’s capital.
This makes Hapag-Lloyd to have five offices on the continent, which are located in South Africa, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya. That is in addition to its “Quality Service Center,” which it recently opened in Mauritius.
The new office will be headed by Kenya’s country manager, Prashant Sindhwani, while 19 staff members will work in Mombasa, with 6 others based in Nairobi and 1 in Uganda.
With a fleet of 234 modern container ships, Hapag-Lloyd is one of the world’s leading liner shipping companies. The company has around 13,200 employees and 388 offices in 129 countries and a container capacity of approximately 2.7 million TEU, including one of the largest and most modern fleets of reefer containers.
The firms combined number of 121 liner services worldwide ensures fast and reliable connections between more than 600 ports on all continents. It is also one of the leading operators in the trans-Aatlantic, Middle East, Latin America and intra-America trades.
Hapag-Lloyd mainly transports agricultural goods out of Kenya, especially tea, coffee, fruits and textiles. The imports to Kenya primarily consist of chemicals, foodstuff and a wide range of goods made of plastic or rubber.
Via the gateway port of Mombasa, the shipping company offers two different services. While 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.
“Kenya is the economic hub of East Africa and the most important growth region on the continent,” said Dheeraj Bhatia, senior managing director, Middle East region at Hapag-Lloyd.
“By opening our new office in Kenya, we expect to continue our robust growth on the African continent,” Bhatia concluded.
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.
Rolf Habben Jansen, chief executive officer 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.”
In a congratulatory note, German Ambassador to Kenya, Annett Günther, said she wished Hapag-Lloyd all the best with their new presence in Kenya.
“Kenya as a regional and continental hub for trade relies on strong and efficient logistics service providers. Hapag-Lloyd has been serving the region for many years, so it is a logical step and a good sign for the business community in Kenya that they are now establishing a permanent presence in Mombasa and Nairobi.”
