As Africa's second largest economy, South Africa has the most extensive transport infrastructure network on the continent, including about 750,000 kilometers of roads, about 30,000 kilometers of railway tracks, 8 commercial ports and 11 major airports, of which more than 89% All freight is transported by road. In the 2018 World Bank's Logistics Performance Index (LPI) ranking, South Africa ranked 29th out of 160 countries. The logistics industry plays a major role in the South African economy, and in 2012, the transport and logistics sector was ranked 2nd out of 16 economic sectors in South Africa for its contribution to the economy. According to Statistics data, the logistics cost in South Africa reached US$40.1 billion in 2018, accounting for about 10.9% of the GDP, and the logistics market in South Africa is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4% by 2025.

The South African government's investment in logistics infrastructure has increased year by year, with plans to spend R313.9 billion on infrastructure such as transport and logistics. The government has introduced a number of regulations for the logistics industry, and carriers face strict compliance requirements. However, in recent years, due to rising oil prices, frequent truck hijacking incidents, and global warming requirements to reduce carbon emissions, these problems have brought new challenges to the development of South Africa's logistics industry.

Nonetheless, the logistics outlook for South Africa remains positive. As one of the largest and richest markets in Africa, South Africa has the most developed retail industry in Africa. In South Africa, about 4.2 million households are middle class earning between $190-570 a month, accounting for 30% of the population. Under the influence of the epidemic, the offline retail industry has been significantly impacted, but many consumers have turned to online shopping, and the number of online consumers and transaction volume have increased significantly during the closure of the city. The continuous growth of e-commerce is inseparable from the improvement of logistics. At the same time, the growth of e-commerce puts forward a higher demand for the development level of logistics, which will further promote the development of logistics in South Africa.

The full-link logistics services carried out by the Chinese team in South Africa include one-stop logistics services between China and South Africa and logistics and distribution within South Africa. The team has obtained investment from Atomic Venture Capital and Grand View Capital. The team has relatively rich experience in the logistics industry. They have worked hard in South Africa for a long time and have made significant progress.

Medium and long distance transportation

The vast majority of roads in sub-Saharan Africa are poorly maintained, and some 53 percent remain unpaved. But research shows that poor road conditions are not necessarily a major determinant of high internal transport costs. Many road routes in Africa are underutilized, trucks often travel short distances or carry only small amounts of cargo without gaining potential economies of scale, and prices for inland transport remain high. Truck owners and truck fleets are an extremely fragmented market. They mainly rely on traditional manual matching methods to match shippers and carriers. The matching efficiency is low, the communication cost is high, and the freight capacity cannot be allocated reasonably. Technology companies are committed to transforming and reshaping this segment in the form of a platform. The main solution is to integrate medium and long-distance transportation resources such as trucks and trucks, digitize transaction processes, reduce middlemen, make costs transparent, and achieve full-process tracking. manage.

last mile transport

In the whole chain of logistics, the last mile transportation is the last link in the delivery of goods to end customers, and it is a key node related to customer experience. In Africa, the last mile delivery is the pain point of e-commerce and the difficulty of logistics, and it is the convergence point of various logistics formats. The solutions of technology companies in this segment are mainly to integrate short-distance transportation resources such as motorcycles and riders, improve response speed and distribution efficiency, and complete short-distance distribution for B-end or C-end customers.