In the first half of 2024, outbound air cargo increased by +8 percent compared to the first half of 2023. Three months later, in September 2024, the air cargo outbound growth has further developed seeing an increase of +9 percent for year-to-date (YtD) September 2024 in comparison to Year-to-Date September 2023. A significant part of this outbound growth is accounted for by the North Africa and Southern Africa regions, since air cargo traffic from these subregions increased by +23 percent and 20 percent respectively.
Based on market analysis by WorldACD Market Data, air cargo outbound traffic from the African continent was highest between December 2023 and March 2024. In September 2024, the total outbound of air cargo shipments (based on chargeable weight) increased +12 percent relative to September 2023. Similarly, the total inbound of air cargo shipments (chargeable weight) in September 2024 increased by +6 percent year-over-year (YoY).
In the first half of 2024, rates (USD per kilogramme) for air cargo shipments to Africa decreased by -13 percent relative to the first half of 2023. Three months later (YtD September 2024), the rates for inbound air cargo tonnages to Africa decreased by -7 percent compared to YtD September 2023, due to rate increases throughout the African region. Air cargo rates for outbound shipments from the African subregions remained relatively stable, seeing a -1 percent YoY change in September 2024 compared to -2 percent in July 2024.
The ten largest air cargo outbound origins from Africa have all increased the outbound tonnages in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the first nine months of 2023, except for Uganda with a slight decrease of -2 percent. Kenya is the largest outbound origin in Africa and increased its outbound tonnages +1 percent YtD September 2024 versus YtD September 2023. Egypt ranked second due to an increase of +30 percent in the same period. Followed by South Africa (+18 percent) and Ethiopia (+6 percent).
Looking at types of cargo, the outbound and inbound air cargo markets in Africa aren’t very much alike, since the ratio of special versus general cargo for inbound to Africa is 33/67, whilst for outbound it’s the other way around, with only 22 percent of air cargo tonnages categorised as special cargo. General cargo does not only represent the majority of outbound air cargo tonnages, it is also outpacing the growth of special cargo. The amount of air cargo shipments (chargeable weight) categorised as general cargo increased +23 percent in the first nine months of 2024 compared to the same period last year, versus an increase of +6 percent for all special product air cargo shipments combined.
In the end, however, the total air cargo industry in Africa is relatively well-balanced in terms of outbound versus inbound shipments. About 51 percent of the total air cargo industry in Africa is accounted for by outbound tonnages, which predominantly originate from outbound-focused subregions such as East (72 percent) and North Africa (56 percent). Southern (38 percent), West (34 percent), and Central Africa (25 percent) on the other hand are more inbound-focused.
