KENYA – Kobo360, Nigeria’s technology logistics platform, has unveiled plans of expanding its operation by setting up a branch in Kenya to serve the East African region.

According to a report by Business Daily, Its co-founder, Ife Oyedele II, said that the Kenyan office to be opened this year will also enable the firm exploit the opportunities along the Northern Corridor which is anchored at the port of Mombasa

The firm also unveiled plans of expanding into Ghana after starting operations in Togo last year.

Speaking during the recently held Africa CEO Forum in Kigali Rwanda, Mr Oyedele said that the expansion is informed by steady growth in the key trading and transport hubs port of 12% in Togo, 10% in Kenya and 7.9%  in Ghana.

“Kenya is the hub of East Africa, it is the most innovative market in technology and if we win here, we have won across the region. From here we will expand to Uganda and Tanzania,” said Mr Oyedele.

Kobo360, which started as an app, links shippers, leading and forwarding firms and truckers to provide seamless movement of goods and has so far made significant achievements in the logistics sector.

The platform now boasts over 4,000 users including Dangote Cement, Unilever and LaFarge among others

In Nigeria it boasts of having reduced logistics costs by 40 percent as its plans to equip drivers with tools for running trips smoothly.

“We estimate that Africa needs 10 times more the number of trucks to meet short term commercial transport needs since rail continues to underperform,” Mr Oyedele said.

Experts in the logistics sector however pointed out that logistics red tape could be the undoing of the Continental Free Trade Area, CFTA, which was launched last year.

They said it takes more than 700 hours and some $2,500 per day to process documentation in some African countries.

“It is more costly to move goods from Kigali to Mombasa than it is between Mombasa and China. It is 50 per cent more expensive to trade in Africa than in South East Asia,” said Carlos Lopes, a trade expert.

Kobo360 is backed by key investors, including the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and TLcom that have enabled the firm make notable strides in terms of expansion across the continent.