At African Trade Connection, we connect Africa with global business
We are East Africa specialists. Founded in 2013, ATC is engaged in a variety of markets with trading, brokerage and investment management as its core activities. Our clients – please see Activities for some of our clients – include some of the world’s largest enterprises with leading positions in their industries. Our client base consists of global companies that want to develop business opportunities in East Africa as well as East African companies that wish to take their business to global markets. We service our clients by acting as agent/broker, distributor and/or investment manager. We also act as independent traders in markets that are complementary to our other activities, or in niche markets.
Diversity is a key pillar in our company as we believe that it is a source of opportunities. ATC is a diverse and dynamic company. Cultural diversity, geographical diversity, professional diversity, individual diversity… Our founding partners all have a strong connection to the Western region while most of them have their roots and family ties in East Africa. We are a truly cosmopolitan company that is aware of its African/European heritage.
Thanks to our extensive high-level experience within European corporations and being engaged in East Africa business for many years, we are able to offer professional and result-driven services to our clients. We are very keen to apply our background, network and experience to create and develop opportunities for our clients and at the same time do all we can to elevate the exciting region of East Africa to higher levels.
Countries in East Africa have impressive GDP growth rates and even more impressive projections for the near future. We believe that East Africa has a lot of potential to offer with most countries being politically stable, having a rapidly growing middle-class and the English law as the basis for constitutions. It is our philosophy that mutual trade contributes far better to East Africa than merely developmental assistance. In line with this, it is our aim to create employment and share our experience and expertise with all our stakeholders.
Our professional staff is committed to create a long-term relationship with you through our strategically located offices in Nairobi, London, Dar es Salaam, Rotterdam and Dubai. Our offices in Nairobi and Dar es Salaam are our operating offices for the wider region of East Africa.
For more information about our core activities, please see Activities
Our people
Our people are our company. With African and European roots, our people understand the markets in which we operate. Through their experience, cultural and professional background, we look back on years of experience in African proprietary trade and investment management with local presence, as well as years of extensive experience within global/Western corporates. The wide range of expertise and cultural understanding is the bridge to diversity.
Our people are:
Duale has a multidisciplinary background at major Dutch financial institutions, ING Bank and Rabobank, where he has been structuring tailored financial solutions for globally active clients. Duale holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands and a master’s degree in Strategic Management from Rotterdam School of Management – Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
Martijn has an investment banking background at ABN-AMRO and RBS with senior trading and management positions in London, Sydney and Hong Kong, while overseeing regional trading books with multi asset derivative products. Martijn holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands and a master’s degree in Finance & Investments with a focus on Mergers & Acquisitions from Rotterdam School of Management – Erasmus University Rotterdam in the Netherlands.
Mukhtar is a serial entrepreneur and has many years of experience in global money transfer, also as country manager Netherlands for the Dahabshiil Group, one of the world’s largest money transfer enterprises. In the past, Mukhtar was founder of various companies in the Middle East and Africa. Mukhtar holds a bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering from Rotterdam University in the Netherlands
Nuur has an engineering background from IHC Merwede, one of Netherlands’ largest ship construction companies with a management position within the product development arena. Nuur holds a bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Applied Science in Utrecht, the Netherlands and a master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Technical University Delft in the Netherlands.
Our Mission
Our mission is to enable and support our clients – our partners – in creating value. Professional, committed, optimistic and driven to develop opportunities while upholding the highest ethical standards. Our mission is to create sustainable contribution and in doing so, these are our core values:
Our Vision
Our vision is to become a global company with leading positions in a variety of market segments, with East Africa as its primary and Western Europe as its secondary home markets. We envision to create sustainable prosperity and opportunities for all our stakeholders while elevating all layers of the societies of which we are part of.