DHL Global Forwarding has appointed Daniella de Pauw (pictured above) as new sub-Saharan Africa chief executive officer (CEO), which became effective from 19 August.

In her new role, de Pauw is based in Johannesburg (South Africa) and will be responsible for driving growth in the Sub-Saharan Africa region and will report to Thomas Nieszner, CEO, of DHL Global Forwarding Europe.

In her previous role with DHL Global Forwarding, de Pauw was managing director for South Africa and regional director for Southern Africa and Indian Ocean.

“Daniella’s strong background in Africa’s unique logistics climate has made her well-equipped to scale our operational and reputational footprint to the next level,” says Nieszner.

“With her great experience as a Forwarder and her vast network and knowledge in the Africa region, her return to DHL will strongly support our efforts to strengthen our market position in the Sub-Saharan Africa region and our rapidly expanding presence in Africa will benefit from her steadfast leadership.”

Nieszner adds: “With a compound annual four per cent growth rate that shows no signs of slowing, Africa is one of our network’s fastest growing markets. But while capital investment continues to hit higher and higher levels – reaching $128 billion in 2014 – Africa still needs increasingly robust infrastructure networks to harness it to its full potential: infrastructure investment in the continent still experiences an annual deficit of $50 billion.”