BERN: The Swiss based freight forwarding and Logistics Company Panalpina, is to acquire family owned partner Afifi. Established in 1936 in Cairo by Mohamed Afifi senior, the Egyptian forwarder and customs specialist today employs around 150 staff in offices in Cairo, Alexandria and Suez / Sokhna. It also operates in Port Said East and West through a long-term subcontractor.
The deal will see Afifi fully integrated into Panalpina under an agreement reached this week in which Panalpina will acquire 100% of Afifi stock. Panalpina says the move is important step in the company’s continued strategic expansion in growth economies, in particular in the Middle East and Africa.
While all major industries are represented in the country, Panalpina sees the greatest growth potential in the oil and gas, capital projects, telecom, automotive and healthcare sectors. The government has stepped up efforts to encourage the exploration of oil and gas, in particular in the Nile delta. Egypt, with a population of almost 90 million people, is the largest non-OPEC oil producer in Africa and the second-largest dry natural gas producer on the continent.
