•     Business decision-makers across the continent recognize DHL Global Forwarding's excellence in air cargo services
•     DHL Global Forwarding remains highly committed to support intra-regional growth and to bolster trade between Africa and the world

DHL Global Forwarding, the leading international provider of air, sea and road freight services, has once again been voted Africa's International Freight Forwarder of the Year for 2019, by readers of STAT Times, an international air freight publication for business decision-makers in the shipping, transport, aviation and tourism sectors. This is the fifth consecutive time DHL Global Forwarding has won in this biennial award for excellence in air cargo, presented during the Gala Award Nite on February 20, 2019, as part of the Air Cargo Africa 2019 conference held in Johannesburg.

The latest DHL Global Connectedness Index, which measures the flows of internal trade, capital, information and people between different countries, recently ranked the Middle East and North Africa as the world's third most connected region after Europe and North America.

Amadou Diallo, CEO, DHL Global Forwarding, Middle East and Africa said, "Having operated here for the past four decades, Africa remains an immensely important market for us in light of its tremendous growth opportunity. With our extensive global network, we are committed to growing our customers' business, expanding their reach beyond the continent, and to the rest of the world. We will continue to invest in meeting growing market demand, amplifying the region's transport infrastructure, and applying global innovations to the Africa context, with an especial focus on partnerships like our most recent joint venture with Ethiopia Airlines to bolster Ethiopia's credentials as an intra-regional logistics hub."(1)

Digitization and the adoption of new technologies are also playing a growing role in DHL Global Forwarding's services and solutions, to cater to consumers' preferences: In Africa, the continent's mobile adoption is projected to grow seven-fold between 2017 and 2022, and potentially add US$300 billion to the continent's GDP by 2025, fuelling e-commerce growth.(2)  

"This award, and the support of the business community that it testifies to, serves to further encourage the team at DHL Global Forwarding, said Ivin George, Vice President, Airfreight and Customs Brokerage, DHL Global Forwarding, Middle East and Africa.

With the region's economic landscape growth attributed to a young urbanizing population as well as growing strength in primary industries like agriculture, an integrated logistics network will play an integral role in supporting Africa's economic growth. "Africa is fast gaining global attention for its high-quality primary produce like flowers, vegetables, fruits and fish, with countries like Kenya and Ghana ranking as some of the top agricultural exporters to US and Europe(3)(4) and we are eager to work with our customers to capitalize on these opportunities," George added.

Distributed by African Media Agency (AMA) on behalf of DHL.