Logistics Update Africa — January 24, 2018

6 LUA JAN - FEB 2018

CoVer StorY

which has a trend of shifting to Asia as

source of import. We expect high end

garment products to have a good potential

in the years ahead,” observes Fitsum Abady,

VP-Cargo, Ethiopian Cargo.

Ethiopian Cargo & Logistics Services

as the leading carrier in Africa has also

increased its freighter capacity and

frequency along times, in its unwavering

commitment across the years to advance

the continent’s economic interest in global

markets. The flower and other perishables

export for Europe market is critically

enabled by the air connectivity provided but

their volume is not stable with multitude

of factors like weather and other economic

and political factors. On the other side there

is increase in south bound demand after

the market improvement in fuel prices as

Africa’s import are majorly dominated by

oil drilling/exporting nations. Currently, the

cargo carrier serves five Europe destinations

including the recently added Milan in Italy

and Zaragoza in Spain.

“We will continue as we have done

recently, increasing destinations as well as

We will continue

to increase

destinations as

well as frequency

in Europe

based on the

market demand

and strategic

objectives

we have.

FItSUm AbAdy

EthIOpIAn CARgO

frequency in Europe based on the market

demand and strategic objectives we have.

We have recently opened Milan, Istanbul

and Zaragoza; we have also increased

frequency to Belgium,” said Abady.

While there has been some turbulence

in the cargo volumes along this trade lane

over the last couple of years, the prospects

for a rebound in South Africa in 2018 are

very high with the announcement of a

new presidential candidate in 2019, which

will result in improved demand, believes

Sanjeev Gadhia, CEO, Astral Aviation.

“In 2017, there was an in-consistent

volume of cargo from EU to West and

Southern Africa, due to the weak Nigerian

and South African Economy which were

caused by a combination of factors notably

weak currency, economic uncertainty,

depressed oil and gas sector imports which

resulted in a slump in imports which was

noticed in the first-half of the year. In the

second-half of the year, the demand picked

up especially in West Africa due to the

increase in demand for consumer goods

and the reduction of main-deck capacity

especially from China and UAE to Lagos

which resulted in improved yields,” he said.

According to Boeing’s forecast, Africa’s

air trade with Europe is expected to grow

Photo: Boeing World Air Cargo Forecast 2016-