JOC.com
Tomoo Yatsuhashi
Japan Special Correspondent
Nippon Express, Japan’s top international freight forwarder, has established its second African branch office in Casablanca, Morocco, to cash in on the continent’s increasingly promising logistics market.
Morocco is aggressively attracting foreign companies through its special economic zone system, and many Japanese auto parts manufacturers and related companies have already set up operations there. The country seeks to become a logistics hub for North and West Africa with its Tangier-Med container port, according to Nippon Express.
Morocco’s international trade with the world has grown 5.5 percent in dollar terms through the first three quarters of the year to $50.1 billion, according to the IHS Markit Global Trade Atlas. The country’s imports have risen 4.5 percent to $32.1 billion as exports rose 7 percent to $18 billion.
Traffic at the Tangier-Med port was flat in 2016, growing just 0.1 percent year over year to 3 million TEU, according to industry analyst Alphaliner.
The Casablanca branch office in the North African country formally opened for business on Friday, four months after the company made an initial foray into the African market by setting up a branch office in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya in East Africa.
Morocco’s agreement to return to the African Union in January is expected to further deepen Morocco’s economic links to other African countries as well as European countries, Nippon Express said.
Nippon Express, which boasts one of the world’s largest global logistics networks, is understood to have previously undertaken Africa-related transportation and logistics services through its German subsidiary supervising its European operations.
Nippon Express’s move comes amid a growing interest in the African market among Japanese manufacturing and other companies, including logistics service providers.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe attended an international conference on the development of Africa in Nairobi in August 2016 and pledged that the Japanese public and private sectors will invest a total of $30 billion in Africa over three years.
MOL Logistics (Japan) Co., a subsidiary of major Japanese shipping firm MOL, became the first Japanese logistics company to establish a business foothold in Nairobi in May this year. The Nairobi branch office formally opened for business in July.
Contact Tomoo Yatsuhashi at yiu45535@nifty.com.
