Freight News

1 week ago | freightnews.co.za | Liesl Venter

Long hailed as Africa’s diamond darling and the poster child for fiscal prudence, Botswana is navigating a tricky transition. After years of riding high on natural diamonds, the sparkle is fading fast. Global shifts in demand – driven largely by the rise of synthetic stones, lingering reputational damage from the blood diamond era and changing trends in countries like China and India – have all hit Botswana hard. “Diamond prices have been declining,” said Duncan Bonnett, a partner at Africa House.

1 week ago | freightnews.co.za | Liesl Venter

As trade volumes surge across southern Africa, the need for harmonised policies and regional collaboration has never been more urgent – especially along key trade routes like the Trans Kalahari Corridor (TKC). The decision by Botswana in November 2024 to terminate the consolidation of cargo at its borders had a ripple effect across the corridor, triggering severe delays, heavy congestion and skyrocketing transport costs.

1 week ago | freightnews.co.za | Ed Richardson

"West Africa presents significant growth opportunities for freight forwarders, driven by its status as an emerging market with ongoing infrastructure development and increasing trade activity," Martin Schulze, chief executive officer of Contra Consolidations, told Freight News. “Many West African countries are still in the early stages of developing modern transport and logistics infrastructure," he said.

2 weeks ago | freightnews.co.za | Ed Richardson

West Africa’s realisation of its mining potential hinges on innovative and efficient logistics and supply chain solutions. This, according to Michael De Wit, group chief commercial officer at logistics service provider Stacks Africa. Significant deposits of gold, bauxite, iron ore, lithium and other critical minerals have been found in the region, with Ghana, Mali, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Côte d’Ivoire leading exploitation.

2 weeks ago | freightnews.co.za | Ed Richardson

Decades of investment in regional logistics infrastructure is reaping dividends for the West African region, a major global hub for the freight industry. Confirmation of this came in April 2025, when Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) announced that it had selected West African ports as destinations for Africa’s first service by a mega-large container vessel with a 24 000 TEU capacity.