UPS expands alliance with Kenya’s FIT
UPS has expanded its strategic alliance with Kenya’s Freight In Time (FIT). At a customer event in Nairobi, UPS announced that it has made FIT a single point of contact for both its express and freight forwarding services.
In a statement issued on Friday (19 February), UPS said: “UPS’s small package service portfolio have been added to FIT’s current freight forwarding service contract with the international brand to enable growth for both companies and the region.
“Kenya is considered a hub for global trade and a catalyst for future growth, and the country is a strategic part of UPS’s international growth strategy. FIT’s expansion of services and recent facility investments will strengthen ties with Kenyan customers and offer a unified UPS brand experience, providing innovative, reliable and high quality end-to-end logistics solutions with brokerage services.”
FIT recently invested $9m in its operations and has a 5,000 square metre warehousing facility with six offices in Kenya. The company has also invested half of a million dollars in a modern airside facility at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) to handle and process shipments for express operations in Nairobi. The facility, which operates round the clock, will support the small package courier service in Kenya. As the hub for the East Africa region, round-the-clock customs presence will help improve the turnaround time of customs clearance. Boosting quality control, an additional 46 staff members have been employed to help ensure customers in the region receive high quality service
“FIT continues to invest in operations in East Africa, and we are committed to providing customers with international import and export services through the UPS global shipping network. Customers in Kenya can now benefit from our comprehensive solutions as well as the expertise and global network that UPS has to offer as a global logistics leader,” said Shamit Shah, CEO of FIT.
Jean-Francois Condamine, President of the Indian Subcontinent Middle East and Africa district for UPS, added: “The extension of our partnership with FIT, a strategic regional logistics provider in East African countries, clearly demonstrates our long-term commitment to our valued customers in Kenya. With 109 years of logistics heritage, UPS has the technology and expertise to support FIT to offer reliable bundled solutions to customers in Kenya.”
