Building seamless supply chains in Africa

Look closely at trade across Sub-Saharan Africa recently and you’ll uncover a story of resilience and momentum. Amidst worldwide volatility, the value of goods traded in the region in the first half of 2025 grew year-on-year by nearly 10%, according to the latest DHL Global Connectedness Tracker. That's higher than any other region on the planet. Furthermore, the African Development Bank projects that 12 of the world’s 20 fastest-growing economies in 2025 will be in Africa. With trade volumes expected to grow by an average of 4.3% annually through 2029 – second only to the South & Central Asia region – Africa’s trade trajectory is unmistakably upward.

The forces behind this growth represent no less than a generational shift. The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is beginning to take shape as an integrated market of over 1.3 billion people, changing how goods, data, and opportunity move across borders. The continent’s young, rapidly urbanizing population is set to double between 2020 and 2050. Demand in key global growth markets – from healthcare and retail to digital services and e-commerce – is accelerating, signaling that opportunity is not only present, but multiplying.

Together, these trends point to a clear reality: Africa’s trade potential isn’t limited by demand – it’s limited by connection. The ability to move goods reliably across the continent remains uneven. Businesses lack the predictability they need to plan, expand, and seize opportunities due to fragmented infrastructure, varying customs systems, and shifting regulatory requirements.

For small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), these logistics hurdles make it difficult – and often too costly – to access new markets. For multinationals, they make it more complex to scale operations across borders and tap into Africa’s growth.

Closing this connection gap is now one of the most decisive factors shaping Africa’s trade future – and the businesses that operate within it.

While trade is rising across the African continent, three global growth sectors stand out as the places where strong logistics capabilities will make the biggest difference for African businesses: Life Sciences & Healthcare, New Energy, and E-commerce. These industries are global priorities under our Group’s Strategy 2030, and the same specialized expertise we’re building worldwide is now being scaled across Africa. As demand accelerates in each sector, reliable, sector-specific logistics becomes essential for helping companies connect across borders and unlock their full potential. Let’s take a closer look:

• Life Sciences & Healthcare: Nearly half of Africa’s 1.5 billion people lack regular access to healthcare, and the continent imports almost 90% of its medicines. As the region’s pharma industry grows, the need for specialized, temperature-controlled transport becomes critical. Reliable cold-chain logistics will enable providers to reach patients safely and consistently.
• New Energy: Africa holds roughly 30% of the world’s proven critical mineral reserves and around 60% of the planet’s best solar resource potential. But New Energy logistics is complex, global, and technically demanding – spanning battery and solar panel supply chains, heavy-lift industrial projects, and large-scale renewable installations. Businesses in this sector need partners with deep expertise and global capabilities to connect African production and project sites with international value chains.
• E-Commerce: Fueled by a rapidly mobile-connected population, e-commerce is transforming retail across Africa. Made up largely of SMEs, this fast-growth sector depends on seamless cross-border logistics, predictable customs processes, and reliable last-mile delivery to truly scale. With the right logistics backbone, more small African businesses can turn local momentum into global reach.

To help African businesses fully participate in these fast-growing sectors, we’re committing more than €300 million across DHL Group to strengthen logistics across Sub-Saharan Africa. Focused on three core business units, the investment is intended to deliver what companies need most: predictable transit times, better access to key trade corridors, and specialized capabilities that support cross-border growth.

Express: Expanding access to global markets

At DHL Express, we’re upgrading major gateways and expanding our time-definite air network to increase speed and reliability on Africa–Europe and Africa–Asia trade lanes. By adding connectivity into emerging “second cities” and operating the region’s only dedicated air logistics network, our Express business helps African businesses reach international markets more quickly and with greater confidence.

Global Forwarding: Sector expertise for complex supply chains

At DHL Global Forwarding, we’re scaling our sector-specific capabilities to support Africa’s role in the global energy transition, strengthen cold-chain and perishables logistics, and expand specialized temperature-controlled transport across the region. Together, these capabilities give customers greater control from origin to destination and ensure smoother handling of high-value or time-critical shipments in fast-growing industries. This is supported by our GDP-certified Life Sciences & Healthcare facilities in Johannesburg and Nairobi, which provide compliant cold-chain storage and end-to-end temperature-controlled transport for pharmaceutical customers.

Supply Chain: Building the infrastructure for sustainable scale

At DHL Supply Chain, we’re expanding specialized warehousing and contract logistics operations, particularly in South Africa, to support these maturing industries. With more sophisticated storage, inventory management, and value-added services, businesses can operate closer to demand and grow in a more predictable, efficient way. By adding capacity, strengthening our network, and leveraging our contract logistics expertise, we can provide the reliability and continuity customers need to improve service quality, manage risk, and scale into new markets.

While infrastructure upgrades and sector-specific capabilities will strengthen Africa’s physical and operational supply chains, many companies still face a different kind of barrier: navigating the rules, procedures, and administrative requirements of cross-border trade. That’s where our DHL GoTrade initiative comes in.

SMEs are the heart of local economies but struggle the most to grow beyond their borders. GoTrade is designed to help change that. We help entrepreneurs by providing training and mentorship, equipping them with the knowledge and practical solutions they need to access international markets and participate in the global economy – the ins and outs of logistics, e-commerce, and cross-border trade. By making international trade more accessible for entrepreneurs across Africa, GoTrade complements our broader investments – ensuring that improved logistics infrastructure is matched with the know-how businesses need to use it.

Africa’s trade momentum is unmistakable – and the opportunities ahead are significant. But turning that momentum into long-term competitiveness depends on building the right connections: predictable trade lanes, specialized logistics capabilities, and the practical know-how businesses need to move confidently across borders.

Across DHL Group – supported by our over 6,500 logistics specialists in Africa – we’re strengthening the infrastructure and expertise that help African companies access new markets with fewer barriers and greater certainty. And through initiatives like GoTrade, we’re ensuring that entrepreneurs and small businesses can participate more fully in the growth unfolding around them.

In every sector and along every trade lane, the goal is the same: to create the reliable, connected supply chains that allow African businesses to scale – across the continent, and around the world.