Spedag Interfreight, a new leader in the East African logistics market

SPEDAG East Africa is amalgamating with Interfreight East Africa and under the name of Spedag Interfreight, making it one of the largest logistics suppliers in East Africa.

At the beginning of September 2011, the Switzerland-based M+R Spedag Group has become one of the leading logistics and project forwarding companies in East Africa after the amalgamation of Spedag East Africa and the well-known Interfreight East Africa. With the combined forces of these two former competitors, there will be a concentration of logistics and project transport competency in the growing market of Africa.

"The worldwide customers of both companies will get added value through the combined strength of the two market leaders," says Daniel Richner, majority shareholder in the new company group.

The amalgamation is a further important step in the business strategy of the M+R Spedag Group towards concentrating on expansion in East Asia, India and Africa. "The volume of transport from Europe, as well as from eastern and southern Asia towards Africa has risen rapidly in the past 10 years, and will continue to do so in exceptional scales," said Mr Richner.

Spedag East Africa is one of the market leaders for project logistics in the East African region. The co-founder, Joseph Lenherr, has headed this division since 1999 with great success, and will in future be responsible for Spedag Interfreight as its managing director at the head office in Muttenz/Basel.

Interfreight East Africa was founded in 1998 by Heinz Mueller, and is one of the largest suppliers in the sector of warehousing and distribution, as well as a significant logistics partner of the export trade. Furthermore, Interfreight has made a name as a specialist in the oil and gas industry, and will optimally support this sector in the expansion in Uganda and South Sudan. Heinz Mueller will sign as Resident Managing Director of Spedag Interfreight in Mombasa/Kenya.

An important core competency is the logistics of relief aid goods in the region. The group has in recent years helped with the transport and distribution of mosquito nets to prevent the spread of malaria. "When you have lived in Africa for decades and made this continent your home, such relief aid transports are a good way to show your thanks," says Thomas Stroh, Regional Director in Uganda.

The equivalent of nearly 100,000 meals donated by the contributions of all the company's employees for the refugees from Somalia are further witness to their great identification with this all-to-often underestimated continent.

Spedag Interfreight employs 700 staff in Switzerland, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, DR Congo and South Sudan. Moreover, Spedag has had its own offices in South Africa for the past 50 years. The group has its own terminals in Mombasa, Kampala, Dar es Salaam and Johannesburg, runs 32,000-square-metre storage area and 60,000-square-metre trucking/container yards. A fleet of 350 dedicated trucks is on the road every day for our customers in Africa.

The M+R Spedag Group is a family-owned international logistics company, founded in 1952 and based in Switzerland. The Group employs around 2,000 staff in more than 70 branch offices over five continents. The annual turnover is CHF650 million (US$662.75 million) by SHZ estimate.