African air cargo carriers have positioned themselves as the world’s leading growth engine in the logistics sector, with demand surging by an impressive 11.0% year-on-year (YoY) in August 2025. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said in its monthly report on Tuesday.
According to IATA, Africa was the only global region to post double-digit growth in Cargo Tonne-Kilometers (CTK) for the month, accelerating its performance compared to 10.6% July. This marks the second consecutive month of robust demand growth for African carriers.
Asia Pacific also registered strong YoY growth for August with 9.8% YoY growth, down from 11.2% in July; Latin America and the Caribbean continued the deceleration observed in recent months, registering a 2.1% YoY, down from July’s 2.5% YoY and the weakest August YoY growth result since 2020.
The Middle East was the only other region apart from Africa to experience an acceleration, in August. Demand grew by 2.7% YoY, up from 2.4% YoY in July. Europe carriers posted an increase of 3.5% YoY in international CTK, down from 4.1% YoY in July.
According to the report much of Africa’s success is being driven by burgeoning trade with its eastern partners, capitalizing on strategic shifts in global logistics:
• Africa-Middle East Corridor: This route posted the highest growth figure, surging by 15.6% YoY in August. This corridor, which accounts for 20% of Africa’s international air cargo demand, has posted record volumes since March 2025.
• Africa-Asia Route: This route, representing around 30% of Africa’s 2024 air cargo demand, rose by 8.4% YoY and recorded its own record volumes in July and August. Analysts suggest this strong performance is benefiting from Asian cargo being rerouted away from North American trade lanes.
Capacity and Europe Lag Behind
Despite the overall strength, the data from the report highlights two areas of caution:
- European Route Decline: The Africa-Europe corridor, which accounted for 50% of the continent’s air cargo demand in 2024, has been in decline since April, posting a CTK YoY drop of -3.0% in August.
- Falling Load Factor: While demand (CTK) grew by 11.0%, available cargo capacity (ACTK) expanded even faster, rising by 12.3% YoY. This rapid influx of capacity caused a drop in efficiency, with African carriers’ Cargo Load Factor (CLF) falling by 0.5 percentage points to 39.6%. This suggests that while volumes are high, carriers are rapidly adding space, which puts pressure on cargo yields.
The African air cargo market remains resilient and highly dynamic, characterized by a major shift of trade toward the Middle East and Asia while its traditional link to Europe continues to weaken.
