DHL plays a critical role in the oil and gas industry in Angola. DHL Global Forwarding CEO, Egídio Monteiro, spoke to African Energy Series – Angola about how DHL provides project logistics and freight services to Angola’s key operators and service providers, including a contract with BP that was renewed earlier this year.
Although the company handles project logistics for heavy and oversized material and industrial projects, its express service, which typically focuses on smaller parcels, represents the largest segment of its core business. DHL Global Forwarding commands between 25 to 30 percent of the market in Angola and aims to expand its share through further in-country investment.
DGF Services include warehousing, transportation and distribution, movement of cargo on- and offshore, customs clearance, integrated logistics and the provision of husbandry services for tankers and vessels.
“With oil and gas, the customer has a demand for rotating equipment, especially across West Africa. You need to be able to tell them how to move shipments back and forth from Angola. We are trying to consolidate information and provide it in one package. Angola could play a very important role in serving as a hub for countries like Namibia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique and the Republic of Congo,” Monteiro added.
Reflecting its long-term commitment to the country, DHL boasts in-house warehousing capabilities in Angola and will make a $1 million investment in the extension of its logistics center to hold and distribute cargo. The company recently renovated its warehouse at the 4. de Fevereiro International Airport in Luanda, and is one of the only companies with a 500sqm area located within the main cargo terminal.
Looking ahead, DHL aims to continue to invest in its local workforce, with the company’s internal training program, Certified International Forwarders (CIF), which serves to develop employees into Certified International Forwarders. Operating in more than 220 countries around the world, DHL is also focusing on building additional freight network solutions throughout the Southern African region to facilitate movement of cargo between the countries in which it operates, and explore cross-border potential. Specifically, the company is looking to extend its resources from Angola to neighboring countries such as Namibia and Mozambique, as well as provide road freight services to the Republic of Congo, also looking at increasing freight capacity across the West Africa cost, supporting the Oil & Gas industry material rotation demand.
