Agility to open world-class logistics warehousing park in May

Agility West Africa Limited -- a world-class freight, logistics and warehousing company, says its 40-acre logistics site in the Tema free zone enclave is scheduled to be opened in May this year, for both regional and global companies operating in the country.
 

The first phase of the park when fully operational will occupy 100,000 square metres of bonded and non-bonded warehouses with ancillary services. 

The Tema facility will also provide uninterrupted power, IT connectivity and security for tenants; creating an international platform from which companies can efficiently operate their businesses.

Deanne de Vries, Senior Vice President Africa, told a media conference in Accra that its network of Agility Distribution Parks being developed across Africa will serve the growing requirements of Agility’s existing and new customers, “as they seek distribution facilities across the continent to meet the demands of burgeoning growth in both the FMCG and commercial markets”.

The company plans to build 70 logistics parks of 100 acres across all the key locations in Africa, to actually provide a pan-African logistics network.

“Our global customers are looking for access to that market.  We believe there’s an increasing opportunity for regional trade and export, so now is the time to be investing and building the infrastructure to support the logistics business,” she said.

She said Agility designed a solution to consolidate the customer’s operations into two warehouses of 20,000sqm each. To minimise disruptions, Agility located the warehouses close to most of the smaller facilities and handed over the new facilities to customers in phases.

The solution enabled the customer to seamlessly expand its capacity without disrupting daily operations.

“This,” she said, “is aimed at helping our customers grow their business by developing the customised international standard facilities needed across Africa.”

Fred Kojo Ellis, Commercial Manager–West Africa at Agility, said that Agility is a world leader in the development of logistics parks around the globe and is committed to developing a network of quality distribution parks in Africa.

“By providing the much-needed import and export routes in and out of Africa, Agility Distribution Parks will help companies operate in Africa with the reliable, modern and secure infrastructure they need to grow their business.”

He explained that Agility operates its own warehouses and also designs and builds warehouses on its distribution parks for third parties, to tailored individual customer specifications.

He told B&FT that the company owns and manages over US$2billion of assets, with an extensive portfolio of prime industrial real-estate and distribution centres across the fastest growing regions of the world. 

“By building world-class industrial parks in strategic locations, with guaranteed power, security, and connectivity, Agility helps companies thrive. Multi-national companies can access the modern and secure infrastructure they need to operate, and local and regional companies can use the facilities to grow their business. 

“Quality logistics infrastructure supports development, attracts foreign direct investment, improves trade flows, and increases prosperity and job-creation,” he stated.

A Kuwait-listed logistics firm, Agility spent over US$100million in 2015 on its expansion plans, with Africa the main target of its investment. It boasts over 20,000 employees in over 500 offices across 100 countries.

Among the target markets for the company’s expansion plans in Africa are included Ghana, Mozambique, Angola and Nigeria, as these countries are benefitting from blossoming oil and gas sectors, and growing populations and consumer spending.

The logistics unit moves, manages and distributes goods from various industries, including the chemicals industry. Agility has a strong track-record of serving the world’s largest oil and gas companies in some of the globe’s most challenging environments.