On June 20-22, Roncevert Almond, Partner at The Wicks Group (TWG), served as Chairman of the Africa Air Cargo Summit 2016 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The conference brought together aviation leaders from across the continent to Addis Ababa including senior representatives from African governments, private industry, international organizations including the United Nations, and gateway airports from Europe to Asia. Mr. Almond helped launch the new conference, which is dedicated on the rapidly growing African air cargo market for airlines, airports, forwarders, integrators, brokers, aviation services, and other logistics providers.
Ethiopia’s Minister of Transport, H.E. Dr. Howkneh Gebeyehu, opened the conference, by observing that Africa is on the rise and one of the fastest growing regions in the globe. He explained that the aviation sector will continue to grow due to an expanding middle class and strong economic growth. Indeed, over the next 20 years, Africa is expected to experience 5% annual growth in air cargo. African exports – from perishables to textiles – and African imports – such mining equipment and pharmaceuticals – have defined the recent era of growth, which has been above the global average.
Following the minister, the Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde Gebremariam, highlighted the particular role of Ethiopia, as a key African hub, and its flag carrier in developing the continent’s aviation market. Ethiopian Airlines, Africa’s largest air freight carrier, is aiming to achieve $200 million in annual profit by 2025. Delegates to the conference later toured Ethiopian’s Cargo Terminal 2 at Addis Ababa, which will be the largest air cargo facility in Africa and accounts for over $115 million in infrastructure development. Mr. Gebremariam concluded: “We want Addis Ababa to be the gateway for the continent of Africa.”
Mr. Almond concluded the opening session with remarks that reinforced the promise of Africa’s future and paid homage to its past. He noted that of the 2.37 billion increase in population expected worldwide by 2050, Africa alone will contribute 54%. By 2100, Africa’s population will be on par with Asia. By 2020, Africa will be home to approximately 120 million middle class households with demands for consumer goods like refrigerators, washing machines, and HD televisions. This dynamic will facilitate the future growth of the African air cargo market.
But Mr. Almond also identified key issues facing the industry: (1) liberalization of markets; (2) development of ICAO-compliant regulatory systems; (3) building of necessary infrastructure to support trade; (4) greater collaboration within the African market; and (5) uncertainty in the global economy. Despite these challenges, Mr. Almond expressed certainty that Africa, and Ethiopia in particular, will build upon their unique role in human history: “As long as there has been humanity there has been trade, and as long as there has been humanity there has been Africa. Lucy, who was discovered in Ethiopia and resides here in Addis at the National Museum, is only 3.2 million years old and is one of the earliest indications of our human origins.”
The conference proceedings, led and organized by Chairman Almond, covered a number of topics including key challenges for African air cargo and e-freight implementation in Africa, the enhancement of intra-African networks, collaboration in the supply chain, humanitarian logistics, developments in the oil, gas, and mining sector, identifying key hot spots for growth, ground handling and infrastructure improvements, and market trends for Africa. With regard to the latter subject, Thomas Crabtree, who develops Boeing’s World Air Cargo Forecast, expected that the African air cargo market will continue to grow and be increasingly impacted by East-West trade driven by continued Asian investment and increased imports, and facilitated by multi-modal hubs in the Middle East. This is a departure from the traditionally prominent role of Europe in the North-South trade with Africa.
TWG is a multi-disciplinary legal and consulting firm that provides specialized services to clients with aviation and transportation-related interests world-wide. TWG advises countries across the globe on achieving their civil aviation development objectives, whether achieving compliance with standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) or establishing international best practices to foster economic growth.
For more information about TWG’s participation in the African Air Cargo Summit 2016, please contact Roncevert Almond at ralmond@wicks-group.com or (202) 457-7790.