DHL and Ethiopian Airlines have appointed Berhanu Kassa as general manager to lead their joint venture as it scales up its operations with three established stations, and a fourth by end of the year.
Kassa, previously director of logistics services at Ethiopian Airlines, takes over the leadership of DHL-Ethiopian Airlines Logistics Services from Pramod Bagalwadi, chief executive, DHL Global Forwarding, Sub-Saharan Africa, who was instrumental in setting up the joint venture.
Kassa’s appointment comes at a time when the country is focused on growing its economy by building industrial parks in key locations to accelerate growth of exports from Ethiopia. “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,” said Kassa.
He added: “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. We are also planning to launch a fourth station at the Modjo Dry Port by early 2020 where 95% of the country’s imports and exports pass through.”
Said Bagalwadi: “As the government targets to achieve 11% GDP growth annually under its growth plan, Ethiopia’s focus on export-led industrialization in sectors like energy, transport, and manufacturing and the expansion of physical infrastructure, will see its industrial sector expand by 20%.
“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.
“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 Logistics Services provides air, ocean, road haulage sand customs brokerage.
Ethiopia is also one of the key competence centres 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.
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 the capability to handle international supply chain projects, as well as customs brokerage.
