Al Dobowi Deepens its roots in Africa

The Al Dobowi Group has decided to increase its presence in Africa by opening offices, warehouses and service centres in Ethiopia to cover the Ethiopian, Djiboutian and Somalian markets. It will distribute tyres and batteries and will also have an OTR repair facility with Rema Tip Top. In addition it will also supply Gates Fleximak hoses and manufacture Serck Radiators. According to the company, these developments will also provide Al-Dobowi’s European partners that do not have a local African presence with more avenues to increase their business in some of the fastest growing markets in the world.

The company has also deepened its presence in South Africa where it has acquired TyreCor, a local South African tyre distributor with offices and service facilities in Johannesburg, CapeTown, Durban and Mapumalanga. TyreCor is a preferred partner of Trelleborg in South Africa and this acquisition is seen as further strengthening Al Dobowi’s relationship with Trelleborg. Al-Dobowi already has a joint venture with Trelleborg covering the Middle East and parts of Africa. Company representatives told Tyres & Accessories that Al Dobowi has invested several million dollars in upgrading the TyreCor infrastructure and “will grow this business by introducing the Infinity range of tyres and batteries and also strengthening the agricultural tyre business of the group.”

Al Dobowi is known for its fast-growing distribution of Infinity and Westlake-branded tyres in Europe. But few know that the Al Dobowi Group is a leading tyre distributor in Africa, having been present in Nigeria for over 25 years and Ghana for nearly 10 years, growing both the Pirelli brand and the Goodyear brand. In Nigeria and Ghana Al Dobowi has also developed Bandag factories, making it one of Bandag Europe’s top customers worldwide. Al-Dobowi subsidiary, Eskay Tyres distributes the Westlake brand of tyres, while GoldSpark Trading distributes Infinity branded tyres.