Aramex has announced two key acquisitions in Kenya to increase its geographical coverage in thecountry and the wider East Africa region as well as to expand its presence in emerging markets.
In Kenya, Aramex has acquired a leading courier and freight operator, OneWorld Courier, whichserves the domestic market, East Africa and a wide range of global destinations, and In-TimeCouriers, a Nairobi-based domestic delivery firm established in 1995.
Through these acquisitions, Aramex aims to establish a strong position in one of Africa’s keymarkets, with a population of more than 40 million and the largest economy in East and CentralAfrica.
Hussein Hachem, Aramex CEO for Middle East and Africa, commented: “We are extremely pleased toannounce these two significant acquisitions in Kenya, which position Aramex to introduce its fullsuite of products and services to the wider East Africa region.”
Samer Gharaibeh, Aramex Chief Executive Officer for Africa, explained: “Following theacquisition of OneWorld and In-Time, we are now well positioned to extend the full range of Aramexservices across Kenya, East Africa’s transport hub, and from there to regional and internationalmarkets.”
Through its presence in Kenya, Aramex intends to introduce a broad portfolio of logistics andtransportation solutions, such as third-party logistics centres in Nairobi and Mombasa. Otherservices to be launched include international and domestic express delivery, freight forwarding,secure records and information management solutions, and e-services such as e-commerce solutionsand Shop&Ship, the company’s online shopping delivery service.
“The opportunities in Kenya, which has an open-market economy and liberalised external tradesystem, are clearly tremendous. Our planned third-party logistics centre in Mombasa will improvethe replenishment cycles for our international customers and significantly reduce the time neededto deliver their products to markets in East Africa,” Gharaibeh specified.
“Kenya has a large domestic consumer base and is located in close proximity to key markets inthe Middle East and Africa, offering connectivity to fast-growing East African nations such asBurundi, Tanzania, Rwanda and Uganda,” he added. “We strongly believe that these acquisitions willprovide us with a strategic foothold in a market that also serves as a bridge between East Africaand Asian markets such as China and India, leading to a significant, sustained contribution toAramex’s global operations.”
The company’s acquisitions in Kenya follow a series of recent international partnerships andacquisitions, including in Turkey, Malaysia, Bangladesh and Vietnam.
