OLA Energy – The African retailer with a vision for the future

PetrolPlaza sat down with Amgad El Hanbaly, Corporate Head of Retail at OLA Energy, in Cairo to speak about one of their flagship sites, trends in the mobility space and the future of fuel retail.

Amgad El Hanbaly, Corporate Head of Retail, started to work for OLA Energy in 2019 after a long career at ExxonMobil. As the African company rebranded from Oil Libya to OLA Energy, Amgad was brough in to improve the retail visual identity and help the retailer reach its full potential. The company, 100% African, currently operates in 17 countries and has a distribution network of 1,400 stations.

The company has 100 service stations in Egypt, the home country of El Hanbaly. PetrolPlaza got a chance to visit OLA Energy’s Swan Lake site in New Cairo (Egypt) while attending ReFuelForum MENA 2023. After we sat down with Amgad El Hanbaly to discuss the multi-faceted station, OLA Energy’s business and the future of fuel retail.

“I love the lay out of this service station. The consumer gets a convenient journey. Generation Z want service stations to be a relaxing destination in the middle of the journey,” he explains.

The station, which sells 1.5 million liters per month across several fuel islands, features three drive-thrus for Burger King, Krispy Kream and Starbucks. In the case of Starbucks, 40% of the 1,500 clients that visit the shop daily come through the drive-thru. The Marhaba c-store sells various products including food-to-go and coffee to 1,000 people per day. The station also features a large service area that includes car wash, lube oil change and tyre repair.

“Beyond 2030 I believe the whole service station will be integrated. The consumer will be able to place an order anywhere on the site and collect it on the way out.”

El Hanbaly also speaks about the consumer segmentation, the characteristics of the African customer, why fuel retailers need to work together and his vision for the service station of the future.