air cargo Africa & transport logistic Africa Conference

Africa in motion: Building corridors, capacity and confidence for growth

Africa's air cargo sector is growing faster than any other region in the world, driven by perishables, e-commerce and a shifting global trade map. Over the first six months of 2026, African airlines saw air cargo demand rise 11% year-on-year, while capacity fell 0.7%, lifting the average cargo load factor to 47%. Meanwhile, the Africa-Asia air cargo trade lane recorded 12 consecutive months of growth through June 2026, although growth slowed sharply from 62% in February to just 0.9% in June. The 8th edition of Air Cargo Africa asks the question that now matters most: can the continent's hubs, policy framework and infrastructure keep pace with the demand already arriving on its runways?

Day 1 Agenda - Tuesday, 2nd February, 2027

Panel 1: The state of African air cargo: Outpacing the world

African carriers have posted the fastest international cargo growth of any region through late 2025 and early 2026, with load factors climbing faster than in any other region. Yet Africa still accounts for only 2% of global air cargo traffic. This panel sets the tone for the conference by asking what is structural and what is cyclical in that growth — perishables, e-commerce inflows from Asia, intra-African trade, and diverted global capacity — and whether African carriers and hubs are positioned to capture it or simply pass it through.

Panel 2: One African sky: Turning SAATM and AfCFTA into cargo reality

The Single African Air Transport Market and the African Continental Free Trade Area remain the two reforms with the greatest potential to cut costs and open capacity across the continent, but implementation has been slow and uneven. SAATM now has 38 signatories, with 26 countries having fully opened their markets, while AfCFTA has been ratified by 49 of Africa’s 54 countries. The AU aims to make SAATM fully operational by 2030, with African airlines accounting for at least 70% of fifth-freedom traffic-rights services, while AfCFTA targets full ratification by 2027. This panel brings together regulators, airline strategists and trade economists to assess real progress, the bilateral restrictions still holding capacity back, and what it will take to unlock fifth and seventh freedom cargo rights.

Panel 3: Global disruption, African opportunity: Hubs in a shifting world

Disruption across the Gulf and Red Sea corridors is forcing shippers and logistics providers to rethink routes, hubs and transport combinations. As cargo flows shift, African airports have an opportunity to strengthen their role within wider logistics networks that connect air cargo with ports, road corridors, rail networks, and inland markets. This panel examines how African hubs can capture changing trade flows, where connectivity remains weak, and what infrastructure and logistics partnerships are needed to make these hubs more competitive.

Panel 4: Cold chain Africa: Perishables, pharma, infra & tech gap

Flowers, fresh produce, fish, pharmaceuticals and healthcare products are among Africa's most valuable temperature-sensitive cargoes, but maintaining product integrity requires visibility across farms, factories, warehouses, airports, roads and final markets. AI, predictive analytics, IoT and real-time monitoring can help anticipate demand, optimise routes, detect temperature risks and reduce waste. This panel examines how technology can strengthen Africa's cold chains while addressing the infrastructure, data and connectivity gaps that still stand in the way.

Day 2 Agenda - Wednesday 3rd February, 2027

Panel 5: E-commerce take-off: Serving Africa's digital consumer

The entry and expansion of major e-commerce platforms across African markets, alongside fast-growing local players, is accelerating demand for time-sensitive air freight and reshaping how airlines plan belly capacity. This panel examines what integrators, airlines and postal and express operators need to build — network density, last-mile reliability, customs simplification — to keep pace with a consumer base that is scaling faster than the infrastructure serving it.

Panel 6: Ground game: Airport capacity, handling and investment priorities

Terminal expansion at hubs from Nairobi and Cape Town to Kigali's incoming Bugesera International Airport signals real investment appetite, but ground handling capacity, new market entrants and cargo terminal modernisation are advancing unevenly across the continent. This panel brings together airport authorities, ground handlers and investors to map where capacity is being built fastest, where bottlenecks persist, and what it takes to attract capital into African cargo infrastructure.

Panel 7: Sustainable freight: Decarbonising Africa's cargo supply chains

Africa's growing trade flows will require more freight capacity, but rising fuel costs, emissions targets and climate risks are putting greater pressure on the logistics sector to become more efficient. This panel examines how carriers, logistics providers, airports, ports and cargo owners can reduce emissions across the supply chain while keeping African trade competitive and resilient.

Panel 8: When crisis strikes: Building Africa's humanitarian logistics lifeline

Conflict, climate shocks, disease outbreaks and displacement are placing greater pressure on Africa. Delivering food, medicines and essential supplies requires more than emergency airlifts; ports, roads, warehouses, border crossings, local transport networks and last-mile access are all critical. This panel examines how governments, humanitarian organisations and logistics providers can strengthen these networks, pre-position capacity and improve coordination so that aid can move faster and reach communities when and where it is needed most.