By Tanko Mohammed
As the largest economy and one of the most populous countries in Africa, Nigeria plays a crucial role in the container liner’s growth strategy on the continent, attracting Hapag-Lloyd to open its new office in Lagos.
Lagos is one of the most important port cities in Africa.
With a fleet of 239 modern container ships and a total transport capacity of 1.7 million TEU, Hapag-Lloyd is one of the world’s leading liner shipping companies.
The Company has around 13,000 employees and 388 offices in 129 countries. Hapag-Lloyd has a container capacity of approximately 2.6 million TEU – including one of the largest and most modern fleets of reefer containers.
A total of 121 liner services worldwide ensure fast and reliable connections between more than 600 ports on all the continents. Hapag-Lloyd is one of the leading operators in the Transatlantic, Middle East, Latin America and Intra-America trades.
“We are happy to welcome the new team and our country manager Florian Nittscher to the Hapag-Lloyd family!” says Vishal Bundhun, Managing Director Area West Africa at Hapag-Lloyd.
“Via the Middle East India Africa Express (MIAX) and the Mediterranean West Africa Express (MWX), Nigeria is well-connected to the global Hapag-Lloyd network. With our new office, we move even closer to our customers in the region.”
Nigeria is the economic powerhouse of West Africa. With large oil reserves and a growing middle class, the country imports everything from industry machinery to electronic appliances. Nigeria’s main exports are cocoa beans, cashews, and other agricultural products.
“Hapag-Lloyd has been expanding its business steadily in West Africa over the past years”, explains Dheeraj Bhatia, Senior Managing Director Region Middle East at Hapag-Lloyd.
“Our new office in Lagos will create further growth for us and will help us to even better connect Nigeria to the world.”
In Lagos, Hapag-Lloyd calls at the ports Apapa and Tin Can Island. In order to offer its African customers consistently high service all over the continent, Hapag-Lloyd opened a dedicated Quality Service Center in Mauritius at the beginning of the year.
