Ethiopian targets e-commerce with new partnership

Ethiopian Airlines has partnered with postal firm MailAmericas to develop cross-border e-commerce services within Africa and the Middle East using Addis Ababa as a hub.

The tie-up will see Ethiopian Airlines offer MailAmericas its air transport services for carrying goods across its network.

Tomas Miguens, president of MailAmericas, said: “As one of the largest service providers of cross-border e-commerce into Latin America, we are thrilled to partner up with Ethiopian Airlines Group and expand our horizon into Africa’s territory.

“This will grant every customer a better shopping experience, improving delivery time and traceability of their packages.”

Ethiopian Group chief executive Mesfin Tasew added: “We are glad to team up with MailAmericas in launching e-commerce logistics services across Africa and Latin America.

“So far, we have jointly served more than 20 countries in Africa and Latin America, and we are keen to further expand our reach going forward.”

As part of the partnership, Ethiopian Airlines will gain access to all bilateral agreements and private networks of MailAmericas, enabling it to offer services to customers in Africa, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, and other parts of the world.

Ethiopian, which operates 14 freighters, is building an e-commerce hub in Addis Ababa with a total annual capacity of 150,000 tons per annum.

The e-commerce hub will be equipped with an Automated Sortation System and Electronic Transport Vehicles (ETV) to handle shipments ranging from small parcels to boxes, skids, and builtup units.