Opportunities outweigh challenges in a complex market

For airfreight operators into Africa, it’s a game of challenges and opportunities – and most will agree that the latter exceed the former. “If you’re offering a DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid) service, the customs clearing processes are complex and varied,” says CFR Freight Johannesburg airfreight branch manager, Dave Gurney. If there’s a customs stop and examination that results in the goods being delayed, storage costs can spiral pretty quickly. Communication is another problem that is often under-estimated. “We take for granted access to internet and emails, whereas in some African countries their communication system doesn’t support it too well. The problem of uplift is also a consideration. “There are a number of airlines flying around Africa and wherever possible, you want to use reputable carriers with acceptable transit times – often a difficult ask, particularly because a lot of the cargo is outsize.” Door-to-door requests are also growing and very often a shipment will terminate at a mine site, rather than at say Kampala or Lagos. “You then have to have a reliable means of transporting the shipment from the destination airport to the end destination – and that’s where a strong agency network makes the difference,” says Gurney. “But our geographical and political position give us a huge advantage and it’s the operators with the network and knowhow who will ultimately succeed in this market of considerable opportunity.”