DHL delivers in Egypt

Egypt

Ahmed Elfangary, country manager of DHL Express, talks to The Energy Year about the logistics sector’s dynamics in Egypt and the company’s success in avoiding logistical disruptions during the Covid-19 pandemic. DHL is an international courier, package delivery and express mail service.

How did DHL Express manage to avoid logistics chain disruptions in Egypt during the last two years?
During Covid-19, we managed to get special approval to land DHL flights five times a week. Our operations did not stop for a single day and this was a big statement on how strong DHL is in the country. Customers can depend on us to deliver no matter the situation. The message is that despite the challenge, we are here and we support shipping. It was a significant milestone for us to achieve.
Due to the lockdown, we capitalised on our infrastructure and DHL flights to move more and more cargo. This helped us to attract more customers and increased volumes. During 2020, DHL Express Egypt had double-digit growth.

What is DHL Express’ market share in the logistics sector in Egypt?
DHL Express has the largest market share in the Egyptian logistics sector. Of our operations, 10-15% are energy-related. This segment is increasing but not as much as other sectors and segments. Most of our business is generated from B2B, while textiles and agriculture possess the biggest share. I think energy would be number five or six as a gross percentage of growth.

Which segment does DHL want to focus on in the coming years?
We saw the kind of growth in e-commerce in one year that we thought would happen in five years. Egypt is considered a virgin country when it comes to e-commerce, buying online and going cashless.
The government is working hard on having a cashless society, which helps e-commerce a lot; Covid has been another contributing factor.

What opportunities does the company foresee in the Egyptian energy industry in the upcoming years?
We see collaboration increasing between DHL and the gas sector and energy industry in general.

What measures for decarbonisation of the logistics chain is DHL Express adopting?
We already started Alice [cargo planes powered by renewable energies]. Each can carry up to 800 kilos of cargo. We expect to have these planes here. We are emphasising this because of the company’s commitment to reaching zero emissions by 2050. As things progress with transportation, there is no specific date, but we will see developments within five years.

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