DHL-Ethiopian Airlines Logistics Services plans 4th station at Modjo Dry Port by 2020

September 24, 2019: In order to scale up its operations in Ethiopia, DHL-Ethiopian Airlines Logistics Services, a joint venture formed between DHL Global Forwarding (DGF) and Ethiopian Airlines, will be launching a fourth station at the Modjo Dry Port by early 2020, which will facilitate 95 percent of the country's imports and exports. Modjo Dry Port is Ethiopia's first dry port development which started on a small-scale at the end of 2009 and handles import-export trade along the Ethiopia-Djibouti trade corridor.

The facilities are present in four key sites - Addis Ababa airport, Hawassa Industrial Park, and Bole Lemi Industrial Park, which provides a range of logistics solutions for various sectors. 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.

#Ethiopian and #DHL joint venture went operational expanding fast & reliable global logistic connectivity. pic.twitter.com/sbcRreHFKz

— Ethiopian Airlines (@flyethiopian) September 24, 2019

The newly appointed general manager Berhanu Kassa, who was previously the director of logistics services at Ethiopian Airlines, stated, "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"

Kassa 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. His 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.

"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. 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 Bagalwadi.

"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," he added.

Since its inauguration in 2018, the company, in addition to air, ocean and road freight services, offer value-added services including 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.

In March this year, CMA CGM has inked letter of intent to establish a new joint venture with Ethiopian company MACCFA Freight logistics to manage Modjo Port.