DHL Global Forwarding, the air and ocean freight division of DHL Group, has appointed Sascha Geiken as Chief Executive Officer for Sub-Saharan Africa, excluding South Africa, in his new role. He will succeed Egidio Monteiro and will report directly to Tobias Maier, CEO of DHL Global Forwarding Middle East and Africa.

Geiken moves to the new role from DHL Global Forwarding where he served as Vice President, Ocean Freight, Middle East and Africa. He has over 30 years of experience in the freight forwarding industry. He has been with the business since 1995 and held various senior management positions.Before joining DHL Global Forwarding, he held a number of leadership positions in the Middle East, including managing director roles with responsibility for multiple markets in the region.

His previous responsibilities have given him extensive knowledge of freight operations across markets with different commercial and logistical requirements. As head of Ocean Freight for the Middle East and Africa, he has overseen areas including global trade developments, ocean freight services and trends, pricing, capacity management, trade-lane development and sustainable transport. He has also been closely involved in monitoring the evolving trade connections between Africa, Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Commenting on the appointment, Tobias Maier highlighted Geiken’s familiarity with the company and the region, as well as his experience in managing complex markets.

“Sascha knows our business and he knows this region. He has spent many years working across complex markets and understands what it takes to turn growing trade flows into reliable solutions for our customers. Sub-Saharan Africa is an important growth market for us, but it is also a market where strong local execution really matters. I am very pleased to have Sascha take on this responsibility, and I am confident he will continue to move our business forward together with our teams across the region,” Maier said.

For Geiken, the new role represents an opportunity to build on his experience across the Middle East and Africa while supporting the development of logistics solutions adapted to the region's growing trade activity.

“I’m very happy to take on this new role. Having worked across Middle East and Africa for many years, I know both the opportunity in Sub-Saharan Africa and the realities of moving goods across the region. Trade is growing, but our customers need more than capacity. They need reliability across the entire supply chain, from the international leg through customs and inland transport to final delivery. I look forward to working with our teams across the region and building on what is already a very strong foundation,” he said.

The leadership change comes as DHL continues to strengthen its presence and pursue long-term growth opportunities across Africa. In 2025, DHL Group announced an investment exceeding €300 million in Sub-Saharan Africa. The funding is intended to expand infrastructure and services across three of its businesses: DHL Express, DHL Global Forwarding and DHL Supply Chain.

Geiken's appointment therefore comes at a time when the group is increasing its commitment to the region, where growing trade flows and demand for dependable end-to-end logistics services are creating new opportunities for freight forwarding operators.