Africa’s ‘hotspots’ identified

South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya will lead in the retail logistics sector over the next five years, and while the biggest agricultural producers are currently Egypt, South Africa and Kenya, there is room for growth in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. These are the key findings of the recently released ‘Africa gearing up’ report created by PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Econometrix. It aims to give interested investors insights into the key economic regions and countries in Africa and analyses the future prospects for transport and logistics operators. According to the report, Africa needs more manufacturing to drive growth and it singles out the trans-continental highway network as a real constraint for transport and logistics operators. It says that rail connections are also lacking but adds that there are a number of projects under way to improve regional connectivity. The report lauds major port projects which it says are a step in the right direction but warns that Africa will have to do “much more” to get goods moving by sea. It also states that while east and aouthern Africa have a solid airfreight infrastructure in place, with plans for two new airports in West Africa, airfreight won’t take off unless security issues are addressed.