Multinational logistics company DHL Group is investing over €500-million in the Middle East, with the company seeing significant potential especially in the fast-growing Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates (UAE) markets.  

The over €500-million investment, announced at the DHL Geographic Tailwinds Media Tour in Dubai, UAE this week, would run from 2024 to 2030.

The investment spans all four of the group’s divisions of DHL Express, DHL Global Forwarding, DHL Supply Chain and DHL eCommerce.

It would entail enhancing infrastructure, expanding networks and capacity and elevating service capabilities.

The company’s divisions provide a broad portfolio of logistics and transportation services to customers in the Middle East, including express parcel delivery, air, ocean and overland freight, warehousing, fulfilment and distribution, customs brokerage and specialised operations for sectors including life sciences, healthcare, e-commerce and battery logistics.

For DHL Express, investments will be made in hub and gateway facilities, as well as enhancing aviation capacity to improve service efficiency and delivery speed.

For DHL Global Forwarding, the company will expand its overall presence in the region, invest in its fleet, including electric trucks, and pursue joint venture initiatives such as the recent one with Etihad Rail to enhance connectivity and logistics capabilities.

For DHL Supply Chain, there will be an expansion of the contract logistics offering in both the UAE and Saudi Arabia, which includes increasing warehousing capacity, upgrading equipment and integrating advanced technology to optimise operations.

For DHL eCommerce, the acquisition of the delivery provider AJEX in Saudi Arabia is expected to enhance DHL’s e-commerce capabilities, enabling improved last-mile delivery services.

DHL is investing heavily in the group’s infrastructure in the region, as it is perceived as a “growth engine”.

DHL Express CEO John Pearson elaborated that the Gulf Cooperation Council region was rapidly emerging as a global logistics and innovation hub, and the investment reflects its increasing strategic importance in connecting Asia, Europe and Africa.

He highlighted that, despite global headwinds and uncertainty about how the US tariffs would play out, now was the time to pursue global trade, with this still projected to grow, albeit possibly at a slower rate.

Pearson pointed out that this region boasted notable growth statistics, with, for example, Dubai being fifth in terms of total volume of new trade generated over the last five years, and the Middle East growing at 5% to 6% average, higher than the global average.  

“This is a multi-business investment strategy in a region that presents long-term growth potential,” he acclaimed.

DHL Supply Chain, Europe, Middle East and Africa CEO Hendrik Venter mentioned that for customers concerned with things like multi-shoring, the full extent of their logistics operations and multi-modal transport nodes, DHL aimed to provide solutions that accommodated this.

He added that global trade required a global connected network, which the group endeavours to provide.

The Middle East has been identified as a burgeoning trade hub, facilitating commerce between Asia, Europe, and the US while serving as a gateway to Africa.

The group has identified opportunities in the energy sector, encompassing traditional oil and gas as well as renewables and electrification.

It also sees potential in the life sciences and healthcare markets, as well as the growing e-commerce landscape.

AFRICAN FOCUS  
Meanwhile, DHL is also pursuing other investments and expansions in African markets, aligned to its Strategy 2030, which prioritises growth regions and geographic tailwinds engendered by shifts in global trade, and also as part of its aim to capitalise on the opportunities presented by this region.

Moreover, the Middle East investments are expected to engender indirect benefits for the African continent, owing to the relationship between the two regions.

Speaking to Engineering News on the sidelines of the event, DHL Global Forwarding, Middle East and Africa CEO Amadou Diallo pointed out that the UAE had over the past four years been the largest investor in Africa, superseding China.

He added that the UAE was one of the easiest places for African businesspeople to travel to, owing to streamlined visa processes and simplified airline access.

Diallo informed that DHL was undertaking ongoing expansions and making new investment across the continent.

This included the development of new warehouses, investments in sorting centres and hubs, investments in supply chain infrastructure and the deployment of new vehicles to implement its road freight solution that operated across the continent.

It is also building a new head office for its express business in Johannesburg, South Africa.  

“We want the solutions operating in air, ocean and road freight to be seamless, and comparable to those we have in the UAE,” he averred.

Speaking to the publication in an interview following the event, Venter, who originally hails from South Africa, pointed out that the continent had a major role to play in agriculture, food services, energy and renewable energy.

He said the region provided a large domestic market, making it a lucrative logistics and supply chain market for the group.

Venter added that the group was also bolstering its e-commerce capabilities and would continue to invest in this space.

He highlighted that technology innovation in banking and payment, and large domestic consumption, support opportunities in this space, and the group would continue to invest in technology and infrastructure to capitalise on this.

Venter also mentioned the potential for Africa to establish itself as a fair and reliable global trading partner, with the continent open for international trade, seeking to attract foreign direct investment, and large global companies looking to invest in renewable-energy projects.

According to DHL’s Trade Atlas 2025, sub-Saharan Africa is one of three standout regions that are forecast to achieve much faster trade volume growth than all other regions from 2024 to 2029.

SUSTAINABILITY
A strong theme emphasised throughout the visit was DHL’s focus on sustainability, with the group aiming to be carbon neutral by 2050.

Initiatives for this include investing in sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and electric vehicles (EVs), technology innovation and pursuing clean facilities.

For the latter, this includes measures like solar power. All of the facilities built over the past three years are carbon-neutral and the aim is to have 95% of facilities on par by the end of the year.

SAF is currently 3% of total fuel, with the aim to increase this to 30% by 2030.

Of a fleet of 1 800 vehicles, 38 are EVs.

The group is also exploring the potential of using other types of fuels, including running a pilot to use hydrogen-powered trucks in Saudi Arabia.

Moreover, DHL is using AI technology to enable smart carbon route planning, to reduce fuel consumption.

In the UAE, these efforts are aligned with government’s sustainability strategy and its diversification away from an oil-based economy.

*Tasneem Bulbulia was a guest of DHL Group at its DHL Geographic Tailwinds Media Tour in Dubai.