18 February 2010

Confident that market entry will be well received by the Djibouti’s trading community and land-locked Ethiopia

Damco has opened a new office in Djibouti, in order to assist import and export customers in Ethiopia and Djibouti with their logistics challenges. The opening of the Djibouti office follows on from Damco's expansion into Zimbabwe and Mozambique at the end of 2009 and re-affirms Damco's commitment to Africa as well as the Company’s strategy of expanding its presence in emerging markets.

Djibouti's position on the major East-West trade lane between Europe, the Middle East and Asia has turned the port into a key transportation hub in the area. The country also benefits from its status as a free-trade zone and is thus a key transhipment location for the region.

Trade through Djibouti has grown steadily over the years, and Damco believes that there is a gap here in terms of complementing this growth with a professionally managed company providing efficient landside services. Damco will be launching a number of reefer solutions, providing a competitive mode of transport, supporting customers in Ethiopia.

One of the exciting developments witnessed in the Ethiopian market is the huge growth in Floriculture. Previously, customers were reliant on air freighting flowers to the global market in Holland. Now, Damco will be able to run reefer containers via land from Addis Ababa into Djibouti and from there, via sea freight, to Rotterdam. As well as significantly reducing transportation cost, this will also allow the Company to remove a substantial amount of CO2 emissions out of customers’ supply chains.

This latest opening brings Damco's total number of offices in Sub-Saharan Africa to 32 across 26 countries. Customers in the area will initially benefit from Damco’s sea freight forwarding, customs clearance and extensive inland transportation services.