Air Cargo Africa 2015: Collaboration is key to beating air cargo challenges in Africa

JOHANNESBURG – February 26, 2015 –Day two of AIR CARGO AFRICA 2015, the continent’s most popular biennial air cargo event, saw consensus from all players within the air cargo space – airlines, air cargo providers and freight forwarding companies alike – that collaboration is vital to taking Africa’s air cargo industry into the future. The […]

Air Cargo Africa 2015: Collaboration is key to beating air cargo challenges in Africa
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JOHANNESBURG – February 26, 2015 –Day two of AIR CARGO AFRICA 2015, the continent’s most popular biennial air cargo event, saw consensus from all players within the air cargo space – airlines, air cargo providers and freight forwarding companies alike – that collaboration is vital to taking Africa’s air cargo industry into the future.

The day’s two round tables, which featured panel members from the likes of Emirates, South African Airways (SAA), the National Air Cargo Group, DHL Global Forwarding, OR Tambo International Airport and the United Nations, focused on beating infrastructure challenges within air cargo and strengthening the supply chain. The common theme across both panel discussions was that, in order to meet growing consumer demand for faster door-to-door delivery times, there must be a greater synergisation across the entire air cargo supply chain.

The intra-African cargo market is one of the fastest growing markets currently, with increasing demand for perishables and consumer goods like smartphones in particular, said SanjeevGadhia, CEO of Astral Aviation. “The need for ‘just-in-time’ shipments of under five days into Africa, as opposed to the current seven to eight days, is becoming critical.”

Driven by e-commerce, this heightened customer demand for a faster service is subject to a number of challenges, particularly linked to customs, leading to many delays and setbacks.

TleliMakhetha, general manager: cargo at SAA, maintained that despite regulations around customs and security requirements making this an increasingly complex industry, the air cargo sector must not lose sight of its main driver; serving the customer. “To shape a better future for air cargo, the transparency of the entire supply chain transaction, both for the operators and the customers, must be improved. We’re drifting away from focusing on the customer and confusing sophistication with complexity. What is needed is a shift in the industry to a more efficient, transparent process.”

Ivin George, VP of airfreight at DHL Global Forwarding concurred. “There must be a collaboration of all stakeholders within the supply chain for growth.”

All parties agreed that the first step to this collective vision is the integration of information systems, as well as business processes and organisational structures. This would create greater visibility and harmonisation at each level of the supply chain, shifting from a “me” economy to a “we” economy.

The definition of a common goal will also unite large forwarders, integrators and airlines, enabling them to collaborate and create a collective “voice”, which will have a greater impact when it comes to lobbying government to help reduce regulatory restrictions, and seeking investment. Both of these factors are critical to reaching the end goal, which is order to shorten the end-to-end air cargo time and deliver greater value.

In order to do this, air cargo players must step outside the boundaries of their individual businesses and exchange knowledge with other areas of the supply chain, said Oliver Evans, chairman of The International Air Cargo Association (TIACA). “Although air cargo has a complex supply chain, the definition of a shared common goal is critical – to create a safe, secure and efficient supply chain that will then service the customer faster. This is why a consistent message by all parties within the supply chain is important, one that can be then conveyed to regulatory agencies with greater impact.”

Despite these challenges, the general view of the future air cargo within Africa at the conference was hopeful, as captured by George of DHL Global Forwarding, who stated that: “Africa is the land of opportunity for air cargo, and 2015 is the year to set everything in motion.”

AIR CARGO AFRICA 2015 is a three-day event held from 25 to 27 February at Emperors Palace close to OR Tambo International Airport. For more information, please visit: stattimes.com/aca2015/

About the organiser:
STAT Times, a publication belonging to STAT Media Group, is a multimodal international transport media in existence since 1986 specialising in Air Cargo and enjoying a worldwide circulation amongst the leaders of the AirCargo Industry. Apart from Air Cargo Africa, STAT Times also organises the popular International BiennialInternational event AIR CARGO INDIA in India.

For further details, please contact:
Diana Cardozo
aca@stattimes.com/events@stattimes.com/new
www.stattimes.com/aca2015
Tel: +91 22 2757 0550 / 2757 5055
Fax: +91 22 2757 2382/ 2752 6202

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