Samer Gharaibeh, Chief Executive Officer of Aramex, Africa explains in an interview with Daily News Egypt on the company’s outlook on the Egyptian market. He also outlines the opportunities Aramex sees in the Egyptian market and the challenges it expects to face in 2015, as well as the main projects the company is looking to adopt and expand on in the country during this year.
What is the company’s outlook for the Egyptian market this current year?
Egypt remains a key market for Aramex, and we have been witnessing increased consumer and investor confidence. We are very optimistic about new business opportunities in the country, and we believe that we will see noticeable improvements after the March 2015 Economic Summit. I am referring to ongoing developments in what we call soft infrastructure, including all investment laws and regulations. We are certain that clear understanding and consensus by the government to the vital need of this soft infrastructure to attract serious foreign investments to the country will start to pay back after the March summit.
What are the main opportunities in the market that the company can exploit and what are the main obstacles the company expects to face in 2015?
We believe there are a lot of opportunities in the logistics services with plenty of scope for growth. Specifically, cold chain and transportation are two underserved sectors in the logistics market in Egypt.
Cash flow availability, inflation and fuel price increases are challenges that all companies need to deal with in 2015.
Are there any new projects the company will be adopting this year? Will the company be introducing any new services?
Aramex will continue to aggressively deliver on its strategy to seize opportunities for sustainable growth across emerging markets, including those in Africa. Key components of our global strategy are to develop our ecommerce proposition, further develop our warehouses and infrastructure, and to continually innovate our technologies for all of our clients and customers.
In Egypt, we are looking at expanding our warehousing network in Upper Egypt and the Delta areas, in addition to our centres in the 6th of October City and Borg El-Arab in Alexandria with state-of-the-art trucking network nationwide. We are also looking at introducing a franchise model for small and medium enterprises capitalising on our last acquisition of PostNet master franchise in South Africa.
Will the company expand existing projects?
We will keep investing in upgrading our infrastructure – this is a key part of our growth strategy. In 2015, we will be opening five new branches. E-commerce and last mile deliveries remain a priority and crucial to our growth strategy as well.
Will the company be investing in Egypt in 2015?
We will be launching a 8,000sqm VAS (Value Adding Services) centre in our main warehouse in the 6th of October City.
How much did the company generate in revenues in 2014?
We are yet to release our 2014 results, but we’ve had robust growth: strong double digits in 2014
