The Middle East and Africa operations of Agility came under the spotlight when Gulf Industry spoke to Elias Monem, CEO, Middle East and Africa.

Highlighting Agility’s ambition to establish a permanent geographic footprint in the region and beyond in the world of supply chain solutions, Monem says, “With Agility’s burgeoning prowess in this specialist field and our reputation as one of the leading players we have set our sights on niche markets both in the region and Africa. We plan to pool our resources to penetrate these markets as the commercial implication of our foray into these territories is phenomenal.”
 Agility has grown steadily and consolidated its position as a market leader in the region over the last few years. As it grew beyond the Middle East frontiers to acquire global status, Agility diversified into several new branches of the logistics business. It built expertise in all of these niche specialties.
  “Our aim is to become the supplier of choice for customers seeking the entire spectrum of logistical supply chain solutions.” highlights Monem.
 Monem’s association with Agility coincided with the company’s evolution from a regional player to a global logistics service provider with the attendant commercial implications. Spurred by the commendable progress enjoyed by Agility, the company is exploring options for its foray into new regions and new markets.
 “Our expansion in the region was steady, beginning with Bahrain, followed by Dubai, Oman, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Looking beyond the GCC region we extended operations to Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq,” says Monem.  “The Middle East and Africa are regions with tremendous commercial potential for us and we plan to beef up our operations. Agility has a strong presence in Sudan and Egypt and we are also keenly eyeing Libya, Tunisia and Morocco.  We have also set our sights on Kenya as we believe this is a big market for our business.”
 To spearhead this initiative Agility has a full-fledged team of professionally competent and qualified personnel to effectively address the needs of this accelerated growth. 
 “The performance index for the Middle East and Africa reflects the pivotal role of this segment. Several strands of business have developed over the years and performed well and cumulatively the Middle East and Africa operations account for a substantial share of Agility’s total volume of business,” according to Monem.
 Monem projects a 25-30 per cent growth in business in the African region where Agility is currently operational.  For the Middle East he projects an 18-20 per cent growth for the current year which Monem reckons will largely stem from its GCC operations.
 Saudi Arabia is a booming market and Agility anticipates dramatic growth there as a result of the upsurge witnessed in several sectors of the economy, especially oil and gas, construction and industry where developmental activity is making great strides.
 “The spinoff from the regional economic prosperity is good news for Agility as we are witnessing tremendous concurrent growth in our infrastructure and services as well,” comments Monem. “We are in the last stages of awarding a contract for a 60,000 sq m contract in Jebel Ali to boost its warehousing capabilities. In tandem with this, another 20,000 sq m of space has been commissioned in Dubai Investment Park. In Riyadh, Agility is currently well underway with the construction of a 40,000 sq m logistics and distribution facility to tie in with the growing business in the kingdom. This facility which is expected to be ready by the first quarter of 2008 will be one of the largest in Saudi Arabia for a logistics operator.”
Monem adds: “The business segments that contributed significantly to the Middle East and Africa operations for 2006 were transportation, third-party logistics and project logistics. The Fairs and Events division has witnessed unprecedented growth as several of the GCC countries are gaining popularity as preferred venues for international trade and consumer events, strategic expos and as MICE destinations. Agility’s broad spectrum of specialist capabilities makes it a natural choice for several such organisers.
“Our enterprise objective for 2007 is service delivery and operational excellence. Having achieved a sizeable geographic presence, we are now focusing on service delivery by enhancing the speed and quality of service we offer our customers. To accomplish this objective we endeavour to establish a strong operational base and maintain service excellence with dedicated customer focus.”  
Innovation has been a key strength with Agility and the company has always reacted promptly to the changing profile of customer needs and the shifting market trends. This is an ongoing process tempered by its motto which is service excellence.
“Part of our Middle East strategy is to expand our customer base and tap into new business opportunities with a leaning towards global accounts as Agility with its comprehensive international network is geared for efficient handling and delivery.” explains Monem.  “Currently Kenya is the market we are working on and consistent with Agility’s aggressive growth plan we hope to widen the scope and extent of our operations here. Our passion is to pursue organic growth.”
Speaking of areas that are a big draw with clients, Monem says the Global Logistics Unit is a key segment offering a plethora of services including third-party logistics, warehousing and distribution. One area that has attracted noteworthy attention is the Middle East Distribution (MED) unit which can reinforce and strengthen the entire distribution network through the harnessing of an efficient and superior fleet.
“Investment in buildings and infrastructure is progressing apace as business volumes steadily climb. Document storage is a relatively new area that we have entered into and this service was first rolled out in Qatar followed by Bahrain and Oman in quick succession. We are now looking at extending this service to Jordan as well,” says Monem.