The African logistics market has seen a steady growth between 2013 and 2018 accounting to a single digit CAGR during this period, a report said.

The report titled “Africa Logistics and Warehousing Outlook to 2023- By Countries (South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Nigeria, Namibia and Botswana), Mode of Freight (Road, Rail, Air, Sea and Pipeline), By End Users and by 3PL, By Type of Warehouses” by Ken Research provides a comprehensive analysis of the Logistics market of Africa.

The report covers the overall size and future outlook of the freight forwarding and warehousing market along with a snap shot on the courier and parcels market along with a number of segments for each. The competitive landscape of the warehousing and freight forwarding segment is also present. The same has been concluded with analyst recommendations.

Africa logistics market overview and size

The continent is extremely rich with natural resources and increase in mining of coal has helped the market grow. The major exporting partners include the US, China and Japan. Infrastructure has been problematic for Africa and China has helped tremendously to curb the issue.

China has made a number of investments to improve the roads, ports and railways which has helped in the growth of the market. The Freight Forwarding Market contributes the most towards the overall logistics market of Africa.

Africa freight forwarding market

Contract logistics is known as the driving force for the freight forwarding market and is opted frequently. The market has experienced a growth in its study period resulting in a single digit CAGR. Food and beverages has been the market’s driving force as most of the consumer spending is towards the same.

Road freight was observed to be the most preferred mode of transportation due to the development in the road infrastructure; followed by sea and rail freight. Future trends in the market focus on Africa having less trade with developed nations and more with developing nations.

Africa warehousing market

The warehousing market of the continent is at its growing stage. The food and beverages market is the dominant user of the warehousing market in Africa. Open storage are preferred the most as compared to closed and cold storage warehouses. East Africa will lead in the demand for industrial space, which is set to grow at six per cent annually in Ethiopia, and at 5.1 percent and 3.6 percent in Uganda and Kenya, respectively.

In response to the growing demand for warehousing, Africa North Africa is expected to experience a gradual growth over the next 10 years. Egypt and Morocco currently have higher demand estimates than East and West Africa in terms of size but are set to grow at a slower rate

Competitive scenario

Most of the African countries have few dominant international freight forwarding players in the market. The lack of infrastructure and capital make the local players resort to third party logistics, which is estimated to be the same in the future. Some of the major companies include Bollore Africa Logistics, Kuehne Nagel, DHL, Maersk, DSV Panalpina, CEVA Logistics and DB Schenker.

The industry is at a growth stage in terms of parameters such as technology, efficiency and service portfolio but not pricing as the logistic cost is too high leading to contraction of manufacturing sector in the GDP. – TradeArabia News Service