Global Air Cargo Industry Yet to Tap Africa’s Market Potential

By Ben Omondi

Presently, it is estimated that the global air cargo industry represents almost US $ 100 billion in revenue, ton-miles of transportation, an estimated US $ 52 billion in direct revenue in five years ago and substantially more revenues in related trucking and logistics services.

Speaking at the conference, Titus Naikuni, Kenya Airways chief executive said air cargo markets around the world are already saturated and more airlines are increasingly aiming to conquer Africa as the next business frontier.

“Anywhere the Chinese go, the Indians follow and then the world, the Chinese and the Indians are hear and the world is increasingly waking up to the fact that it cannot ignore the African continent,” said Naikuni.     

The conference, with the theme “Air Cargo in Emerging Africa” aimed to offer a platform for players in the industry to showcase their products and services as well as discuss ways of capitalizing on the enormous opportunities in the continent.

 “Air transport is critical to the movement of goods in national and global supply and distribution chains, the advent of globalization wouldn’t be possible without aviation” said R.K Patra, Stat Trade Times editor-in-chief and organizers of the conference.

Kenya’s economy, which is heavily dependent on agriculture, cannot grow as fast without the air cargo transport services. Perishability still plays a critical role in the decision to ship by air and it is also recognized that the air cargo industry has been key in making Kenya's horticultural sector to rank as one of the country’s fastest growing industries.

Highly perishable goods incur a significant decrease in product value with any delay. A study on the impact of the air cargo industry on the global economy estimates that approximately 80 per cent of the international trade in cut flowers travels by air as does a similar proportion of specialty meats.

Currently, two-thirds of the fish traded internationally are shipped by air while almost all of the trade in large live animals goes by air. An example is Singapore which imports much of its milk, non-tropical fruits and some types of mass marketing meat by air.

At inception, air transport focused in high value-to-weight products, perishable goods, emergency deliveries for unanticipated shortages, and products requiring the security of increased attention.