Cellphones ring up logistics opportunities

Cellphone networks are being rolled out at great speed across the African continent in order to support the world’s secondlargest mobile market. For the logistics value chain, this presents opportunities, including the importation of container-loads of base station equipment, the transport of the equipment, secure storage and despatch to site in a bundled kit. Then there is the distribution of the phones themselves. According to the GSMA Africa Mobile Observatory 2011 report, over the past five years, the number of subscribers across Africa has grown by almost 20% a year, and will reach more than 735 million by the end of 2012. In addition to importing and storing the phones, logistics companies are adding value by inserting SIM cards and making other modifications for certain markets. Cellphones are also helping boost African economies – which, in turn, translates into more goods that need to be transported to the point of sale for the consumer.