Air cargo became a lifeline for the South African government and economy when COVID-19 placed consumers into lockdown. When ports were at a standstill, road freight was forced to slow down and with only essential services allowed on the road, air cargo remained a safe, practical and efficient means of keeping global consumers and markets connected.

According to the International Air Transport Association, globally air cargo has played a key role in the smooth transportation and distribution of emergency relief packages and essentials such as vaccines and medical test kits thanks to its well-established, temperature-sensitive distribution systems and cutting-edge technology.

Today, as markets have started heading towards stability, the consumer behaviours and market trends seen during the pandemic continue to take the South African economy along the road to recovery, all thanks to the air cargo industry that has opened doors of global opportunities for many small and medium-sized businesses.

Increased online shopping preference and growth of e-commerce

Consumers’ preferences for online shopping during the pandemic took e-commerce to new heights. Mastercard’s 2020 study on consumer spending found that 68 percent of South Africans were spending more time shopping online than prior to the pandemic.

Data from First National Bank Merchant Services highlighted that before the pandemic, e-commerce accounted for 8 percent of total card payments spent in the retail space, and at the end of 2021, e-commerce accounted for 14 percent of total card payment sales.

E-commerce presented the opportunity for small and medium-sized companies to reach new consumers and Statista confirms that this trend is continuing as the African e-commerce industry is expected to increase to US$42.3 billion in 2024 and generate US$46.1 billion in annual revenue by 2025.

With more small and medium-sized businesses establishing an online presence to keep existing customers or to make the most of attracting new customers, the air cargo industry has become an efficient solution for e-commerce companies to match the demands of delivering goods in the fastest way.

Increased need for trade facilitation to boost economic development

Trade facilitation measures (simplification, modernisation, synchronisation) of export and import processes will play a key role in helping countries to build back economies. While air cargo is a key global trade facilitator that contributes to economic development by transporting more than US$6 trillion worth of goods annually, accounting for approximately 35 percent of world trade by value, this alone is not enough. Economic reforms and frameworks such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) should seize the opportunity to remove trade barriers, especially for small and medium-sized businesses in order to promote economic development trade.

Economic reforms and frameworks will boost trade by enabling better access to global markets, promoting mutual trade practices, attracting investments and further helping the small and medium-sized businesses currently making up more than 90 percent of formal businesses across the country and contributing 34 percent towards growing gross domestic product (GDP).

AfCFTA will be a game changer to stimulate intra-African trade, accelerate industrial developments on the continent and diversify South Africa’s imports and exports, and, in so doing, make trade a key driver of economic growth.

The success of these frameworks coupled with reliable air cargo collaborations will enable more South African small and medium-sized businesses to grow and increase their scope by trading internationally. As a dynamic economy of the enormous African continent and vibrant member of key reforms in Africa, South Africa has the responsibility of leading the way for collaborative growth.

Adoption of agile and future-forward innovation and technology

The pandemic demonstrated the value of integrated innovative approaches to ensure resilient transport connectivity for businesses across the globe and further emphasised the need for businesses to accelerate digitalisation.

With digitisation in mind, we witnessed many small and medium-sized businesses adopting cloud computing, which has boosted customer experience and dramatically reduced the cost of doing business whilst freeing up capital for other global business avenues that air cargo helped to facilitate.

Through the air cargo electronic document-preparation and customs-clearance solutions, businesses have been digitally transformed, thereby making international trade simpler and less daunting to reach international marketplaces and contributing even more to developing the South African economy.

Since the emergence of the air cargo industry as a facilitator of uninterrupted international trade and bearer of innovative digital shipping solutions, it has become clear that it is a key driver of economic recovery around the world.

There is no doubt that these are challenging times for the South African economy, however, the lessons we learn from today’s industry trends will help boost the economy in the long term.