Ushering In Air Cargo Africa 2019

The all-important ‘Air Cargo Africa 2019’ is a month away and here’s where the global air cargo fraternity will come together to interact with industry stalwarts and discuss the challenges concerning the industry and future of the sector. 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 flowers, automotive, pharmaceuticals and e-commerce goods.

- Surya Kannoth

Cargo heads and logistics professionals from across the globe are packing their bags to Johannesburg in February to participate in the fifth edition of the most awaited ‘Air Cargo Africa 2019’. Themed ‘Liberalisation & Modernisation – the way to push frontiers of excellence in air freight industry in Africa’, the event will be held from February 19 to 21 at The Emperors Palace in the City of Ekurhuleni, South Africa.

The three day event, this time is being organised by Messe Munchen along with STAT Media and looks at exploring and tapping the enormous potential within the emerging markets of the African continent. The continent, which presents a mix of great promise and major obstacles when it comes to its economic development and the growth of its air freight industry, has witnessed a significant degree of investment in infrastructure – including foreign direct investment from China, in particular. With this in context, the event, through its conference sessions, aims to address the painpoints and look at ways to ensure African countries fulfill their potential in terms of civil aviation, and air cargo in particular.

The sessions will bring to the fore important subjects such as ‘air cargo in the digital era - from digitisation to digitalisation’, ‘trade barriers and populist agendas - headwinds and tailwinds for air cargo industry’, ‘future of unmanned vehicles in air cargo’ and ‘China’s belt and road initiative and investments in Africa’. The sessions will also will demonstrate how factors such as technological innovations mainly in the areas of Data Analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT), Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) popularly known as drones and e-commerce boom will prove to be a game changer for the industry.