GEODIS strengthens its capacity in East Africa by opening a new office in Uganda
GEODIS has opened a new office in Kampala, Uganda early last month. This new office represents an expansion in the Group’s worldwide network and will initially concentrate on catering for the surge in industrial projects currently taking place in the East Africa region.
The Uganda-based office will extend GEODIS - Industrial Projects’ footprint in Africa for both current and new key global clients. The new presence also provides a mechanism through which to tender for parts of a large-scale oil & gas project in the Lake Albert area, as well as managing the transport of supplies for the associated infrastructure development.
“Aside from oil & gas, the region demonstrates potential across a variety of industrial sectors including, power, renewable energy and transport infrastructure,” says Philip Somers, Senior Vice President Industrial Projects for GEODIS. “We will expand as we grow our share of participation in the various projects in the region. This has been a proven model for us in other parts of Africa, where some of our offices have grown to over 300 people. As a growth partner for our clients, we are committed to supporting them in their development. We look forward to serving both existing and new clients in Uganda – as well as in Kenya and Tanzania – in the years to come.”
Demographically, Africa is one of the fastest growing areas in the world, with a population that is expected to rise from approximately 1.2 billion in 2010 to 2.5 billion by 2050*. Uganda’s GDP is projected to increase by almost 6% in 2018**. This expansion translates into much potential activity in the field of logistics. Both Kenya and Tanzania provide vital transit corridors to Lake Albert in landlocked Uganda and are also ripe for expansion as they plan extensive development projects for their own Infrastructure, power supply and renewable energy provision.
* Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2017)
** Source: African Development Bank Group: African Economic Outlook 2018