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NAIROBI
(Xinhua) -- Africa Logistics Properties
(ALP), which is partly owned by International Finance
Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private sector arm,
plans to build modern logistics parks across East Africa
in order to improve supply chain efficiency in the
region, officials said on Wednesday.
ALP CEO Toby Selman told a media
briefing in Nairobi that the firm will deliver the first
140,000 square meters of warehouse space in Kenya in the
next two years.
“We also have a number of pipeline
projects in Uganda that will help reduce cost of
logistics in the country,” Selman said during the
launch of the Broll Kenya Market Report 2017.
ALP will design, build, finance and
lease the logistics parks to businesses in need of
storage. Selman said that existing godowns in the region
are very small, congested and not fit for purpose.
“As a result, the cost of logistics in
the East Africa region is very high, making goods
costly for consumers,” he said.
Experts have indicated that logistics
account for 40 percent of cost of goods sold in East
Africa compared to a global average of less than 20
percent.
The logistics parks are part of
efforts to reduce the cost of doing business in East
Africa so as make the region a competitive producer of
goods.
The warehouses will hold fast moving
consumer goods as well as fresh produce.
ALP also plans to build modern
logistics parks in West and North Africa. |
