Eyeing growth, DHL-Ethiopian Airlines JV boosts operations in Ethiopia

Sep 25, 2019: As Ethiopia focuses on growing its economy by building industrial parks in key locations to accelerate growth of exports from Ethiopia, DHL-Ethiopian Airlines Logistics Services – a joint venture formed between DHL Global Forwarding and Ethiopian Airlines - is scaling its operations in Ethiopia.

The company has named Berhanu Kassa as general manager.

Previously director of logistics services at Ethiopian Airlines, Berhanu takes over the leadership of the joint venture company from Pramod Bagalwadi, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding, sub-saharan Africa, who was instrumental in the setup of the joint venture.

Further, the company has boosted operations with three established stations in four key sites - Addis Ababa airport, Hawassa Industrial Park, Bole Lemi Industrial Park.

While, at the same time, it plans to launch a fourth station at the Modjo Dry Port by early 2020 where 95 percent of the country’s imports and exports pass through.

The Hawaasa and Bole Lemi stations mainly serve export from the industrial parks, while stations in Addis Ababa and Modjo will serve both export and import, with capability to handle international supply chain projects, as well as customs brokerage.

“As the government targets to achieve 11 percent GDP growth annually under its growth plan, Ethiopia’s focus on export-led industrialisation in sectors like energy, transport, and manufacturing and the expansion of physical infrastructure, will see its industrial sector expand by 20 percent. In order for Ethiopian businesses to seize this opportunity and expand globally, they need fast, reliable logistics connectivity to overseas markets, backed by industry expertise and high-quality transport infrastructure,” said Pramod Bagalwadi, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding, sub-saharan Africa.

“We are making available training opportunities in the region to ensure that our colleagues are trained to the highest standards set by DHL globally, and lending our expertise to help enhance local infrastructure.”

DHL, Ethiopian Airlines join hands to bolster Africa’s logistics landscape

In addition to air, ocean and road freight services, as well as value added services including customs brokerage, Ethiopia is also one of the key competence centers for DHL’s Industrial Projects – a unit of DHL Global Forwarding that manages complex logistics projects including deep sea chartering activity and heavy-lift cargo.

The team also provides international supply chain solutions for customers, to link multiple suppliers from different sourcing locations to various destination markets.

“In the past twelve months, we have invested in growing the team to full strength and have established three stations in Addis Ababa airport, and in the major manufacturing hubs of Hawassa Industrial Park and Bole Lemi Industrial Park. Our stations are strategically located for us to be close to where our customers operate, allowing us to achieve time and cost efficiency in our processes,” said Berhanu Kassa.