Africa Business Communities

[Interview] Mario Baeza, CEO, EDN Ghana

Mario Baeza is CEO, EDN Ghana of the EDN Group of Companies, headquartered in Madrid, Spain. His interview with Africa Business Communities:

Would you please introduce EDN GHANA?

EDN Ghana is a well-established outfit based in Madrid (Spain) with two branches in Africa – Kinshasa (DRC)and Accra (Ghana). Since 1997 the EDN Group has been in the business of developing quality, cost-effective warehouses and logistics parks for our customers providing build-to-suit solutions. The EDN Group has also a company named Proequity as the Real Estate Agent of our group, with offices in Spain and Chile.

In which industries does EDN Ghana operate and who are your clients?

We are in the development and construction of warehouses and logistics parks, cold stores, and warehouses and factories for the pharmaceutical, food & beverages, chemical industries. We also do renovation and upgrading of warehousing facilities. Anyone operating in these fields is our client.

Why was EDN started?

The EDN Group started its activity in 1997 to implement and extend high quality warehouses to do logistics in adequate facilities to improve their productivity.    

What is your business background pre-EDN?

All partners of the EDN Group have prior experience in different companies in the same field.

I have personally been involved in the field of engineering and architectural, designing new developments in the food industry, cold stores factories and logistics warehouses.

Much of my time has been dedicated to Project Management, managing projects of over USD15M.

What’s the best part about doing business in Africa?

The tremendous potential growth of Africa and the embryonic status of the logistics market in Africa. An important number of multinationals are in an expansion process in Africa demanding high quality warehouse to cope with their worldwide requirements. One thing standing in the way of its own prosperity is an inflexible economic tax policy.

What can you say about the targets, plans and ambitions of EDN Ghana for the rest of 2015?

EDN is working hard to be the market leading company in Ghana for the construction of warehouses. We are also planning to set up a brother company in Nigeria before end of 2015.

Do you believe Social Media and the Internet to be a plus to the business environment, as it applies to your industry?

Internet especially has become an important tool in terms of marketing and visibility for our company, although work in the field is also needed.

Which African countries will perform best in 2015?

Nigeria, due to its economic leading situation in Africa, huge population and outstanding potential of growth and foreign investment.

Ghana because of the stable political situation and steady GDP growth during the last few years.

Kenya, as a logistics hub for imports in the Eastern Africa with one of the main containerized ports in terms of volume across Africa.

www.linkedin.com/in/mariobaeza

www.ednafrica.com

 

Africa Business Communities is conducting a series of interviews with CEOs and high-end professionals in Africa. Are you interested in an interview? Please send an e-mail to Andrea Ayemoba: andrea@africabusinesscommunities.com

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