Collection counter services overcome African challenges

New markets are being established, last-mile delivery costs are being reduced and courier companies are reducing their carbon footprints through the rise of collection counter services in South Africa and across the rest of the continent. It is changing African courier logistics from a predominantly door-to-door delivery model into one that is network based by addressing structural challenges such as a lack of street signage and addresses, crime, congestion and poor road infrastructure. Among the pioneers in South Africa is Pargo, which uses thousands of existing retail locations as parcel nodes, while Nigerian company Jumia Logistics has expanded across eight countries – Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, Senegal, Morocco, Egypt and Kenya. It was built to support the African Jumia Marketplace e-commerce platform and it has around 70 000 active sellers with 6.5 million products available on the platform, according to chief executive officer Francis Dufay. He says the company works with a network of over 230 logistics partners “ranging from individual entrepreneurs to large companies” and has over 2 400 pick-up and drop- off stations. There were 23.3 million orders placed in 2025. Driving the demand is the lack of products and outlets in many of the areas served by the companies. Dufay cites figures of one shop for every 67 000 people in Africa, compared to one for every thousand in the United States. Some 61% of orders in the fourth quarter of 2025 were made in upcountry regions “where choices of products are currently extremely limited for consumers”, he says. Pargo has taken courier deliveries into the townships through its “click and collect” model. “Pargo’s innovations in last-mile delivery represent a significant step towards bridging the digital divide and fostering economic inclusivity in South Africa. “As internet penetration and e-commerce continue to grow in township areas, Pargo’s pioneering approach serves as a beacon of hope for a more connected and prosperous future,” the company states. Other companies are following suit. Takealot has partnered with Pick n Pay to provide pick-up points across the country, in addition to its own Pickup Points. Collection counters are being replaced by lockers in many areas, with pudo (by Courier Guy) operating over 1 100 electronic smart lockers across South Africa, while Bob Box provides agnostic locker banks that support independent couriers and merchants. For courier and parcel companies, the rise of centralised pick-up and drop-off points simplifies operations and reduces transport costs. Traditional courier services require a vehicle to make numerous individual stops (and to go back if there is no one to receive the parcel), while it takes a single trip from the warehouse to the pick-up point to deliver multiple parcels. A 2026 logistics study found that pickup-point models can reduce emissions by consolidating deliveries, although the overall environmental advantage depends partly on how far customers travel to collect their parcels. ER