NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 5 – The World’s third largest logistics company, Japan’s Nippon Express, will tomorrow, Tuesday, launch a subsidiary office in Kenya.
The Kenya office is the first business presence in Africa.
The Nairobi office, which began operations in August 1, 2017, offers a one-stop service from procurement logistics, optimizing logistics required in product manufacturing processes, to distribution logistics.
Nippon Express has been using local agents to export roses and other cut flowers grown in Kenya.
The firm says it will be putting in place a structure to meet the needs of customers in Kenya and the rest of East Africa, where continued growth is anticipated, moving into the African market as part of its efforts to further extend its global logistics business.
“A standard-gauge railway connecting Nairobi with Mombasa was opened in June 2017 and, with transport by freight train now available, logistics demand is expected to rise due to the reduction in time and cost for transport inland from Mombasa Port,” the firm said in August 2017.
The investment comes after the 6th Tokyo International Conference on African Development held in Nairobi in August 2016, where the Japanese government announced its intention to make available a total of Sh3 trillion in both public and private investment over the three-year period 2016-2018, prompting a growing number of Japanese companies setting up operations in Africa.