The challenges faced throughout Africa in moving services and commodities across its borders are well-documented. The African Continental Free Trade Area agreement (AfCFTA) came into effect in 2019 and has signatories from 54 of the 55 African Union (AU) Nations. In October  AfCFTA formerly launched trade between countries under the agreement. AfCFTA aims to: 

boost intra-African trade by providing a comprehensive and mutually beneficial trade agreement among the member states, covering trade in goods and services, investment, intellectual property rights and competition policy.  (TRALAC)

The continent-wide market covers 1.3 billion people with a combined GDP of US$3.4 trillion. If the agreement achieves all it sets out to, the World Bank projects a boost in Africa’s income of $450 billion by 2035 and an increase in Africa’s manufacturing exports by $560 billion. 

This is undoubtedly a huge opportunity for African countries. However, in addition to the strategic and policy challenges faced in achieving these goals, there are also logistical challenges that need to be overcome, Africa’s regional connectivity being one of them. Investment in an exceptional infrastructure across the continent is a must to support the logistical requirements of moving goods, services, and people efficiently across the continent.

Logistics plays a critical role in trade; a reliable well-maintained road transport system, that is unaffected by heavy rains, fuel shortages and lack of adequate facilities and roadside support for drivers covering long distances, will hinder the development of trade. According to IFC ‘a 1,000-kilometer journey normally takes about six days in Africa, in contrast to 48 hours in other parts of the world’.

HiLOG, an Expert in African Logistics

Since our inception, we’ve been providing logistics support to the infrastructure and construction sector. The equipment used shares many similar characteristics with those used for excavating and earth moving in the mining sector. At HiLOG, we have a huge amount of experience in moving large and heavy machines via multiple modes of transport across the world and specifically in Africa.

We offer the following logistics services:

• Consultancy and planning
• Site and route surveys
• Heavy lift and OOG cargo transport
• Abnormal load permits and escorts
• Lifting and positioning via crane hire or jacking and skidding
• Yard scouting and management
• Part and full charters for air and ocean
• In-plant and/or dedicated personnel
• Bond management
• Project management
• Hand carry/on-board courier (OBC)
• Specific premises for any type of bulk raw materials.
• Loading finished products as general cargo and in containers: ceramic products, beams, structures, etc.
• Adequate open-air storage areas to receive and assemble any type of project
• Covered warehouses
• Vehicles for special transportation

It is an exciting time to be working in the logistics sector in Africa and the team at HiLOG is excited to be a part of multiple inter-African infrastructure and construction development projects. 

More Information

Contact us to learn more about our solutions in the infrastructure industry: kenya@hilogafrica.com | uganda@hilogafrica.com | turkey@hilogafrica.com