January 19 - Panalpina has opened two new offices in Casablanca, Morocco and Nairobi, Kenya, where the company says opportunities for growth exist predominantly in the energy and infrastructure sectors.
"Expanding our global presence is part of Panalpina's overall strategy, especially in growth markets such as Morocco and Kenya," said Peter Triebel, Panalpina's regional ceo for the Middle East, Africa and CIS.
Morocco has many onshore wind farms, and has invested in solar power technology, as well as constructing and expanding hydro and coal-fired power plants, noted Panalpina.
"Morocco has great business potential; in future the country will serve as a gateway to Mauretania on the West African coast, and to the inland African countries of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger," explained Maxime van Geenberghe, Panalpina's new managing director in Morocco.
Panalpina added that Kenya's investment in the oil and gas sector, as well as the construction of a mega-port in the coastal city of Lamu, looks to provide work for the international logistics company.
"Kenya is East Africa's largest economy and a gateway to the region, especially Uganda and Rwanda," said the country's managing director Juergen Paliko. "With the Nairobi office in place, Panalpina is now able to take a more focused approach to cultivating local business and also trade lanes from the Middle East and Asia into Kenya.
