Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. has agreed to acquire a 25% stake in Tanzania-based Alistair Group, a cross-border logistics company serving Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the company's release.
Alistair Group has offices in eight countries in Southeast Africa. Its business centers on cross-border logistics services for truck transport of copper, cobalt, and other critical mineral resources produced in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia in inland Africa to coastal export ports. It is also engaged in customs clearance, warehouse operations, cargo handling at ports, and logistics DX (digital transformation) services and has a fleet of about 450 trucks and about 1,000 employees.
MOL was the first Japanese shipping company to establish a shipping route between Japan and the east coast of Africa in 1926 and has been offering marine transport service to and from Africa for nearly 100 years. With offices in South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya, and Mauritius, MOL is proactively developing various businesses on a group-wide scale, including not only ocean freight forwarding but also air freight forwarding, land transport, warehousing, and the export of used Japanese agricultural machinery.
MOL has positioned portfolio and regional strategies as core strategies of the MOL Group's "BLUE ACTION 2035" management plan and is pursuing the development and expansion of new non-shipping businesses as well, such as logistics, in emerging regions. Through this capital participation, MOL and Alistair will merge the MOL Group's global network and expertise in shipping and logistics with Alistair's expertise in cross-border logistics in Southeast Africa. This will enable both groups to offer a wider range of high-quality logistics services to customers in Africa, a region where MOL anticipates significant growth and new business opportunities due to increasing population and abundant resources, including renewal energy potential.