By: Hermann Zunker

There is no doubt that air transport has played a pivotal role in the economic development of Africa and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

In this regard, it is important to note that a large share of Africa’s trade has traditionally taken place between Europe and the African continent. However, new trading partners in Asia and the Americas are gaining ground and will play a much bigger role in the future.

One of the market dynamics that have prevented faster growth of freighter flights is the large share of horticultural products from Africa, which account for 60% to 70% of total exports. With relatively low yields on the return, there is therefore high pressure on the import sector to generate sufficient contributions to the bottom line.

There are a number of other issues across Africa that can facilitate increased air cargo growth.

Firstly, the industry needs much higher efficiency, better cargo infrastructure, fewer monopolies at airports and ground handling, lower costs and considerable development in skills, training, procedures and security.

Some countries, airports and private-sector partnerships have invested considerably in recent years. For example, Accra International Airport, in Ghana, recently opened a new perishables terminal, Egypt’s Cairo Airport is building a new cargo village and, in Nairobi, Kenya, several new cargo sheds have come on line in the last two years.

Unfortunately, in South Africa, one of the largest markets on the continent, there has been little progress, with new developments limited to Durban, where cargo infrastructure was upgraded with the construction of the new King Shaka International Airport.

Another important issue is the digitalisation of airfreight. This initiative holds huge potential for benefits in efficiency, cost, transparency and productivity. African countries, authorities and stakeholders need to act more quickly to implement the processes and technology, as, currently, Africa lags far behind Asia, the US and most European countries.

With such a heavy reliance on air transport, development of e-freight must, therefore, take a higher priority in national and regional aviation policy.

Lastly, security in airfreight continues to be a top priority for carriers and authorities, yet there is insufficient coordination, standardisation and investment by the public sector.

While, for example, passengers are routinely scanned only once in most airports, in the cargo sector, boxes are scanned several times by shippers, agents and ground handlers every time at a high cost – both nominally and in terms of productivity, with no added value to the customer.

Most African airports have invested only a fraction of the capital in cargo security, in contrast to the significant amounts they have put into scanners, personnel, training and other areas on the passenger side.

All these factors are urgent issues that must be addressed by all stakeholders at national, regional and continental levels.

• Zunker is regional director for Africa at Lufthansa Cargo.