Logistics & Beyond: Interview with Mr. Huseyin Canakci from Nora Global Logistics
August 2, 2021
For this month’s issue of Logistics and Beyond we speak to Mr Huseyin Canakci, African Regional Manager of Nora Global Logistics, to understand their expansion into Africa. Nora Global Logistics was founded in İzmir in 1997 and expanded to Istanbul in 2005. Starting in 2017, the Nora team developed their services in Djibouti and further in Ethiopia. Their dependable, transparent, and customer-centric approach makes them your ideal partner in East Africa.
East Africa has long been under unrest, but with things finally clearing up, we speak to Huseyin to understand what this means for the counties in the Horn of Africa. In conversation with Huseyin…
PL-Alliance: Nora Global was founded in 1997 in İzmir in Turkey. Starting then, it has steadily grown to own several offices in Istanbul. After a stable growth, what made Nora choose East Africa, specifically Djibouti, to expand into the African markets?
Huseyin Canakci: There are substantial Turkish investors and manufacturers in East African countries. We received many requests from Turkish companies, which are the most prominent investors after Chinese companies. In addition, we carried out 67250 tons of breakbulk humanitarian aid cargo project with the Republic of Turkey. Starting from the purchase phase in Turkey, we carried out all the stages, including the final delivery and distribution to Sudan, Mogadishu, Berbera, Bossaso, Ethiopia, Djibouti, and Yemen. After this project, we got advice from Djibouti and Ethiopian Turkish Ambassadors, who predicted that we could be successful by providing professional service to the manufacturing companies, especially Turkish companies in the region. Later, as Nora Global Logistics, we launched our Djibouti & Ethiopia branches in 2017. By expanding our current volume in the upcoming period; We plan to grow further in East Africa, especially in Somalia, Sudan, and Yemen.
In addition to being dependent on a heavy volume as a market, East Africa is a very attractive and robust market for us due to its political connections with Turkey, its power and close position to each other.
PL-Alliance: Huseyin, you are originally from Turkey. Do you work out of Ethiopia, or do you frequently travel between the countries?
Huseyin Canakci: I worked as a Branch Manager for one year in Djibouti, and after that, I worked in Ethiopia for two years as Ethiopian Branch Manager. I am currently working in Nora Global Logistics as the regional manager for Africa and as a Branch Manager for the Ethiopian office. So, I am responsible for all sales activities in Turkey, Djibouti, and Ethiopia. Because of this responsibility, I constantly travel. Now I spend most of my time in our offices in Turkey and Ethiopia because of COVID-19.
PL-Alliance: Can you please give our readers some examples of the cargo you have handled recently?
Huseyin Canakci: Below are some of the recent non-confidential project shipments we have done and organized in Africa:
PL-Alliance: In 2019, the conflict between Eritrea and Ethiopia finally came to an end. Does this pose a threat to Port De Djibouti? What are your thoughts as a forwarder in the local markets?
Huseyin Canakci: Although Eritrea is currently commercially open, it lacks the necessary infrastructure. Unfortunately, like Ethiopia, Eritrea has a serious currency problem. Therefore, all Eritrean trade continues through Djibouti and Ethiopia. I hope that this situation will change soon, and Massawa Port will be fully active for business, and we will start using this port for the northern region of Ethiopia. When sufficient infrastructure works are carried out in Eritrea, and serious investors make significant investments, we believe that the current problems in the country will be solved. When this happens, we want to be present in Eritrea.
PL-Alliance: What are the future developments taking place in Nora Global Logistics, and what are your expectations for the next few years, considering how the coronavirus pandemic has affected the world of the supply chain?
Huseyin Canakci: Djibouti, Ethiopia and Turkey managed the Covid process much better than we expected and significantly reduced the number of cases in the shortest time by providing the necessary assistance for the people who had to live in their homes. Therefore, production, import and export processes have returned to their former levels in a short period of 1 year. By expanding the market volume compared to other closed substitute countries, expansion was also provided for new markets.
Considering these developments in the coming years; As Nora Global Logistics, we aim to have a larger share in the expanding market by further expanding our African investments and our team.
Related links
Website Nora & Nortranss Global Logistics
LinkedIn Nora International Forwarding
