PRESS RELEASE: an African leader in infrastructure and industry, will hold a one-day conference “Rift Valley Railways: An Integrated Logistics Solution in East Africa,” that will be attended by leading members of the Egyptian business community on Wednesday, September 9, 2015, at the Federation of Egyptian Industries.
The conference will highlight Qalaa Holdings’ strategy to increase the presence of Egyptian businesses in Africa, with a particular focus on East African nations. The event will also highlight the competitive advantages of using rail as the most efficient, cost-effective and environmentally friendly mode of transporting goods in East Africa and will introduce Rift Valley Railways (RVR) as a unique door-to-door transportation and customs-clearance service provider that can help local exporters from Egypt, Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan tap into new markets and grow the volume of intra-regional trade.
“East Africa offers potentially lucrative opportunities for Egyptian exporters. By taking advantage of rail transport, we can significantly increase the volume of trade between Egypt and East Africa,” said Karim Sadek, Managing Director and Head of Transportation and Logistics at Qalaa Holdings.
“At Qalaa Holdings, we have been committed to developing a fully integrated transportation and logistics platform through RVR to offer high-quality and affordable services that can help exporters overcome the major obstacles associated with the transport of goods in the region such as customs clearance, logistics and security concerns,” added Sadek.
RVR is Qalaa Holdings’ primary investment in the African transportation sector, with a 25-year concession to operate 2,352 km of track linking the Indian Ocean Port of Mombasa to the interiors of Kenya, the Ugandan capital Kampala and the northern part of Uganda. For the past four years, Qalaa Holdings has been working with RVR’s management and its local partners to implement a turnaround program that includes investing in modern rail-operating technology, rebuilding infrastructure and expanding haulage capacity, as well as developing the skills of its 2,000-strong workforce through management and skills-training programs. RVR has just been awarded the prestigious IOSH Railway Group’s International Award for health and safety after seeing on-the-job injuries at its Nairobi workshops decline drastically by c. 90 percent.
The one-day event organized by Qalaa Holdings and Rift Valley Railways in cooperation with the African Commercial Bureau will include valuable insight and ideas from our team of seasoned experts in the field of transportation and logistics on the East African market and the challenges and opportunities that it presents.