Limited airfreight allocation restricts pharmaceutical accessibility and suppresses high-value agricultural exports from the region
More inbound and outbound air cargo capacity in Sub-Saharan Africa is needed to boost the economy, strengthen supply chain resilience, and help provide access to vital healthcare supplies, a new whitepaper has found.
The current distribution of airfreight capacity – where Sub-Saharan Africa receives just 2% of global cargo availability – restricts pharmaceutical accessibility and also suppresses the region’s ability to scale high-value agricultural exports, found the white paper published by Belgium-based cross-industry collaboration platform, Pharma.Aero and TIACA.
This severe underallocation of cargo capacity is despite exponential population growth and increasing demand for medicines and temperature-sensitive healthcare products, according to the study.
Crucially, there is a high dependency on airfreight for healthcare, with up to 90% of critical pharmaceuticals—including vaccines and lifesaving therapies—arriving by air, highlighted the whitepaper.
Predictable seasonal surges in vaccine needs and disease outbreaks (malaria, cholera, influenza) also point to the need for more agile and reliable air cargo capacity.
As well as presenting a challenge for supply of inbound medicines and temperature-sensitive healthcare products, limited cargo capacity in the region also hinders perishables exports from Africa, in contrast with strong growth of exports from Asia and Latin America, limiting job creation and foreign-exchange earnings.
Cross-industry action is needed to strengthen air cargo links between Europe and Africa in light of intensifying competition from China and India, which are rapidly expanding trade influence by investing in African logistics gateways, found the whitepaper.
Frank Van Gelder, secretary general of Pharma.Aero and expert coordinator of the project, said: “When we launched the Food and Farm for Health project, our aim was to understand the true power the air cargo industry could bring to both economic development and healthcare accessibility.
“Very quickly, our research pointed to Sub-Saharan Africa, where only two percent of global air cargo capacity is allocated. This imbalance limits access to essential medicines in a region where demand is accelerating, and it equally limits the continent’s ability to scale agricultural exports.”
He added: “By offering more air cargo capacity, we unlock a dual opportunity: helping Africa grow stronger local economies and ensuring healthcare products reach the populations that need them most.
“Today, other global players, particularly China and India, are already investing heavily in these trade lanes. If we fail to act, we risk missing not only an economic opportunity, but also the chance to meaningfully support the growth and health resilience of one of the world’s most dynamic regions.”
Glyn Hughes, director general of TIACA, added: “This white paper is a wake-up call. Sub-Saharan Africa receives just 2% of global air cargo capacity, yet depends on airfreight for the majority of its essential medicines and for moving high-value agricultural products to world markets.
“These limitations are not just operational; they impact lives, livelihoods, and long-term development. Strengthening air cargo links between Europe and Africa is a clear opportunity to improve healthcare access, boost rural incomes, and build more resilient supply chains. But we can only achieve this through coordinated, cross-industry action. The time to act is now.”
Earlier this month, Frankfurt Airport has joined cross-industry collaboration platform, Pharma.Aero to help strengthen end-to-end supply chains for life-saving healthcare products.
