Africa's emerging middle class spearheads air cargo growth

The growth of global air cargo has been lagging over the past three years, but the potential for cargo growth in Africa is vast, with some global companies reporting an up-to 20% expansion per annum. In particular, routes between West, East and South Africa are showing the most promise. This emerged from a panel discussion at the Air Cargo Africa Conference held in Johannesburg recently featuring five high-level delegates representing global freighters and airlines. “With the change in global purchasing power – including an emerging middle class in Africa – Africa’s air trade routes are changing and the import/export markets are increasingly opening up,” said Tleli Makheta, general manager at South African Airways Cargo. Sanjeev Gadhia, chief executive of Astral Aviation, based in Nairobi, Kenya, added that while African economies were growing at different rates, the demand for exported goods continued to increase. “The vast population on the continent, which translates into a still largely untapped market, as well as the highly competitive pricing are two of the biggest incentives for growing airfreight in Africa,” said Peter Scholten, vice president: commercial of Saudi Airlines Cargo Company. Barry Nassberg, group chief executive for Worldwide Freight Services (WFS) – a recent entrant to the African market – told FTW his global company had seen favourable changes in regulation, as well as a change in the political and social environments of many African countries, which was what encouraged him to explore business opportunities. “There is also a lot more information coming out of Africa, which has helped us to identify the right partners for our expansion into the continent,” said Nassberg. CAPTION High level discussion… seated, from left: Tleli Makheta, SAA Cargo; Mohammed Parkar, Maximus Air; Mbuvi Ngunze, Kenya Airways; Peter Scholten, Saudi Airlines Cargo; and Sanjeev Gadhia, Astral Aviation.