Air, sea and roadfreight volumes on the rise

“There is a huge increase in seafreight volumes to West Africa. Airfreight has quadrupled over the past few months from South African suppliers to the African market and roadfreight is booming,” says Kingfisher Freight Services MD Alwyn Nel. “The volume of cargo has at least doubled with a lot more going to Zambia, Malawi and the DRC by road. Zimbabwe had quite a spurt when the possibility of a settlement was announced, which has died down a bit since, but a lot of cargo is moving there,” says Nel. The African market accounts for a good 60% of Kingfisher’s business. Approximately 75% of exported goods originate in South Africa and 25% is being re-exported. Nel notes that the company is being contacted on a daily basis by global companies that have been referred to them. Kingfisher offers holistic African coverage and isn’t sector-based. “Africa still has huge potential for us. We work from the Cape to Cairo and there is nowhere that we aren’t going. We have very good trading partners and representatives across Africa,” Nel concludes.