KBS Alumni Profile: Hamed Said Hamed

Kent Business School love to shout about their alumni success stories. Hamed Said Hamed finished his undergraduate studies in 2013, and is now CEO and Managing Director of transport and logistics company Msoza Transport Co. Ltd. Read his story below.

Describe yourself

My name is Hamed Said Hamed. I studied Business Administration (BBA) at Kent Business School between 2010-2013.  I am the CEO and Managing Director of my family business, Msoza Transport Co. Ltd.

Describe your business

Msoza Transport Co. Ltd. is a trucking and transportation company founded in Dar Es Salaam Tanzania in 1975.  The company has grown from one truck, to 150, and now operates in east, central and southern Africa, including in Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Congo, Malawi and Uganda.

Why the transport industry?

As this is a family grown business it felt natural for me to continue in this industry, and continue to grow our family business, which I have been doing since 2013. East Africa depends on the logistics sector to drive 50% of its economy, and I am dedicated to continuing this work. I am also a transportation consultant for the French company Bollore Logistics, and am employed to offer them direction on the east African logistics market.

Are there any social, economic, environmental, technological, legal or political issues that impact your business?

A new political party came into power in Tanzania in 2015 and implemented new tax rules across borders which has chased away many of our global clients. They have moved onto new ports such as South Africa, which is much cheaper to deliver to.

Additionally, when the Chinese economy weakens, as it has done in this past year, we may face the closure of many mining establishments and that diminishes our rotation of cargo drop. We depend on a thriving Chinese economy so that the level of exports of to Africa remain consistently high.

Where do you see your business in the next five years?

I predict Msoza Transport Co. Ltd  will be a multinational enterprise that will have headquarters all over East Africa, including Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo. We seek to increase operations to Southern Africa and expand our vehicle portfolio to include box body trucks, low loaders and grow inter-link cargo transportation. We aim to also be diversifying into clearing and forwarding logistics in order to increase our rotation in the next few years.

Whom do you seek advice from for your business actions?

We have our own team of lawyers and we use professional logistics consultants. We also ensure we network with other transport operatives from around the globe to learn more about safety, and management programmes for our employees.

Describe the key to the success of your business

Transportation relies on the delivery of goods at an exact time to avoid any unnecessary delays. The key to the success of our company is accurate time-keeping, accountability and forward-thinking.

How has what you learnt at KBS fed into your business today?

It fed me plenty of knowledge of using different management styles to create success and to motivate employees.

Many thanks to Hamed for sharing his success. Kent Business School are very keen to hear from their Alumni, no matter where they are or what they are doing. If you would like to share your Alumni story, and blog for Kent Business School, please email kbsbloggers@kent.ac.uk to express an interest.

Kent Business School makes up a huge 10% of the University of Kent’s 145,000 alumni. Stay connected to this thriving network by joining the University of Kent’s online alumni community and the mentoring platform KEW-NET. The Kent Business School Alumni Team can be contacted directly by email at kbsalumni@kent.ac.uk and on the KBS alumni group on LinkedIn. The team regularly hold alumni events, details of which can be found on the Kent Business School alumni web page. Find an alumni event near you.