CAPE-TOWN – DHL Global Forwarding has promoted two African country heads to take regional roles in a continent poised for renewed growth.

Former managing director, South Africa, Lubabalo ‘Twine’ Mtya becomes the new CEO for the Southern Africa region while Pramod Bagalwadi, currently Country Manager DHL Global Forwarding Ghana, has been named Eastern Africa CEO and Kenya head with immediate effect.

Lubabalo ‘Twine’ Mtya, who took over his new post in February after three years with DHL Global Forwarding, will now be responsible for Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia, as well as South Africa. Pramod Bagalwadi takes charge of Uganda, Tanzania, Madagascar and Mauritius in Eastern Africa as well as being Country Manager for Kenya.

Both Twine and Pramod will report to Roger Olsson, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Said Roger: “DHL Global Forwarding has been growing steadily across the Southern African and Eastern African regions, however the untapped market is still huge. More investments and global customers are coming into Africa every day and we need to be ready to serve them with excellence. That requires a great team, led by great management. Both Twine and Pramod’s operational backgrounds combined with leadership experience and business acumen are welcome additions to our senior leadership team in Africa, and their promotions to regional roles are well-deserved and ones that both are eminently equipped to fulfill.”

Twine joined DHL Global Forwarding as Chief Operating Officer in March 2011, taking responsibility for the operational performance of the company in South Africa. In that role he streamlined the South African operations, which resulted in the business achieving all its targets. He was promoted to Managing Director of DHL Global Forwarding South Africa two years ago, and since then South Africa’s profitability and success path has been on the increase, with continuous growth and investments.

Lubabalo ‘Twine’ Mtya, said: “This is an expanded role for me and I welcome the opportunities to develop the freight forwarding opportunities in Mozambique, Namibia and Zambia and work with our teams there as well as in South Africa. Intra-African trade, and especially Southern Africa Development corridors has tremendous potential for growth and we will focus on the synergies of these markets and the benefits for our local, regional and global clients.”

Pramod joined DHL Global Forwarding in 2003 as Trade Lane Manager for Africa, and later became Commercial Manager for Nigeria. In 2008, he was promoted to Country Manager for Ghana with the creation of DGF in Ghana.  Under Pramod’s leadership, the business grew significantly over five years, and he has been instrumental in shaping and developing the in-country organization, while consistently delivering positive results.

Pramod Bagalwadi said: “A regional role in the exciting Eastern Africa region and Kenya gives me an opportunity to continue and expand on the success our teams have had in Ghana both operationally and commercially to provide services and solutions for our clients.” Pramod will continue as acting Country Manager for DHL Global Forwarding Ghana until a suitable replacement is found. He replaces Lars Nees who is leaving DHL after one year to pursue other interests.

Twine, who has a Master of Business Leadership from the University of South Africa among other degrees, has more than 13 years’ experience in the logistics industry in general management, supply chain optimization, domestic courier and distribution, project management and business process re-engineering.  Prior to joining DHL Global Forwarding, Twine worked for 10 years in various roles at UTI South Africa, one of the country’s leading distribution companies.

Pramod has a Master of Business Administration with specializations in Supply Chain Management from institutes in both London and India. He spent five years in procurement and 17 years in Logistics with 14 years based in Africa covering the entire range of services from Courier to Charter Services. Prior to joining DHL Global Forwarding he worked for UTi and SDV Bollore for 8 years in different roles in India and East Africa.