FROM MAGAZINE: Stage set for Air Cargo Africa 2017

The countdown begins for ‘Air Cargo Africa 2017’ that will see the global air cargo community come together to interact with industry stalwarts and discuss the challenges concerning the industry and future of the sector. Not only this, the highlight of the event remains the commodity specific conferences that will provide an equal opportunity for high yield shippers/exporters, key policymakers and other stakeholders in the supply chain to deliberate on the opportunities and challenges that arise in the shipping of perishables, humanitarian aid, pharmaceuticals and automobiles.

Twinkle Sahita

The fourth edition of exhibition cum conference, Air Cargo Africa 2017, themed ‘Airfreight in Africa - Building tomorrow’s market today’ will be held from February 21 to 23 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The three day event, organised by STAT Media Group, will witness participation from the global air cargo community at large to explore and tap the enormous potential within the emerging markets of African continent.

Currently, there are certain challenges such as low yields, over capacity concerning the industry. The sessions will bring to the fore these subjects and also provide insights into the future of air cargo. The sessions will also demonstrate how factors such as technological innovations, e-commerce boom will prove to be a game changer for the industry. One of the sessions will talk about how freight forwarders remain a critical link in the air cargo supply chain and will the current model continue to work in the future.

Following the success of round table discussions that saw participation in huge numbers from the shippers and the logistics service providers, Air Cargo Africa goes an extra mile this year as well to roll out commodity specific conferences that will provide an opportunity to the shippers and other stakeholders involved in the supply chain to meet and discuss opportunities and challenges.

Since air freight plays a pivotal role in maintaining the freshness of temperature sensitive commodity - perishables, the event will roll out Perishables Air Shippers Forum this year. The forum, sponsored by Saudia Cargo, will be held on the first day of the event and provide an ocean of opportunities for logistics providers to enter the refrigerated transportation market in Africa given that the continent needs better perishable supply chain services. The attendees stand a chance to win an iPad sponsored by Saudia Cargo. The lucky prize winner will be selected out of a raffle draw that will take place at the closing of the forum.

The Pharma Air Shippers Forum, hosted by Brussels Airport on the first day of the event, will be attended by logistics and supply chain heads of major pharmaceutical companies.

Automotive Air Shippers Forum, sponsored by Frankfurt Airport, is also one of four commodity specific logistics conferences that the fourth edition of Air Cargo Africa is rolling out this year. It will be held on the second day of the three day event.

Humanitarian aid, that has been a much discussed topic recently, will be deliberated on the day two of the event and is sponsored by Liege Airport.

“Air Cargo Africa is the most important trade show for the everyone involved in African air cargo business. Liege Airport is the most important gateway to Europe for freighter operators between Africa and Europe. Liege Airport has supported Air Cargo Africa and will continue to do so. For all the members of the Liege Cargo community, Africa is core and Air Cargo Africa is important. They will all be there, with their own booths, or at the Liege booth. We are looking forward to connect, engage, discuss business and enjoy the special atmosphere of Air Cargo Africa,” said Steven Verhasselt, Vice President, Commercial, Liege Airport.

The conference programme has attracted industry stalwarts as speakers including Glyn Hughes, Global Head of Cargo, IATA; Michael Steen, Executive VP and Chief Commercial Officer, Atlas Air Worldwide; Nils Pries Knudsen, Head of Global Cargo, Swissport International; Rainer Muller, Vice President-Commercial, Saudia Cargo; Sanjeev Gadhia, Founder & CEO, Astral Aviation; Tleli Makhetha, General Manager, South African Airways Cargo; Conrad Archer, Country Manager Director, Panalpina Airflo, Kenya; Turhan Özen, Chief Cargo Officer, Turkish Airlines; Gareth Joyce, President, Delta Cargo for Delta Air Lines; Peter Musola, AG, General Manager – Cargo, Kenya Airways; Joscha Kremers, Officer-in- charge, United Nations; Meshack Kipturgo, Managing Director, Siginon Aviation; Bongiwe Pityi, General Manager, OR Tambo International Airport; Jonathan Clark, Regional Director-Africa, Cargolux; Jane Ngige, Chief Executive Officer, Kenya Flower Council, among others.

The mobile application of Air Cargo Africa 2017, sponsored by CHAMP Cargosystems, allows users with quick and easy access to details of all participants at the event. Participants can log on to the app to schedule one-on- one meetings, chat with delegates, locate exhibitors, access the floor plan, event map, conference schedule and speaker details. This smartphone app is available on all formats - iPhone and Android and can be downloaded from the App store and Google Playstore.

South African Airways Cargo is contributing to the event as a key sponsor for the third time. The ‘Welcome Reception’ will be hosted by Worldwide Flight Services (WFS) and Africa Flight Services (AFS) on February 20 for the air cargo community.

One of the integral parts of every Air Cargo Africa edition is the STAT Times International Award for Excellence in Air Cargo which is organised on the evening of the second day.

Air Cargo Africa 2015 gathered a record number of 80 international exhibiting companies, 527 global industry decision makers as registered delegates and brought in an impressive number of 2915 trade visitors from across 29 African countries and 32 countries from other continents to explore business prospects.

To find more details about the forums or Air Cargo Africa 2017, please visit https://www.stattimes.com/aca2017/ and follow the event @AirCargoAfrica and #AirCargoAfrica.