With annual growth rates of about 6%, the region tops the list on the African continent, the line said in a press release. Kenya, in particular, is developing with significantly rising import and export figures as well as massive investments in public infrastructure. Hapag-Lloyd is eyeing some 900 export and import customers with its weekly service from Mombasa, targeting Kenya as a driver of growth.
In April 2018 Hapag-Lloyd launched the East Africa Service (EAS), its first dedicated service to East Africa. The weekly service sails from Jeddah to Mombasa, and from there to Dar es Salaam, in Tanzania, and directly back to Jeddah.
After a successful start this service will be expanded in September with a weekly connection to and from Nhava Sheva, Mundra, Khor Fakkan, Jebel Ali, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam. The so called EAS2 will replace the current EAS service and directly link the Arabian Gulf and the West Coast of India with East Africa.
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Hapag-Lloyd also offers inland transportation to and from East African hinterland locations of Bujumbura (Burundi), Kigali (Rwanda), Lubumbashi (Democratic Republic of Congo), Lusaka (Zambia) and Kampala (Uganda).
“I am delighted that our East Africa Service from and to Kenya is developing so positively. After only four months in operation, we have significantly expanded our business with overall vessel utilization beyond our expectations,” said Dheeraj Bhatia, Hapag-Lloyd Africa, Middle East and Indian Subcontinent md. “With our upcoming new EAS2 service we will be able to offer even better connections from and to East Africa. All in all we are experiencing growing client demand which demonstrates the economic potential of Kenya,” he added.
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