WEEKLY NEWS


THE PARADOX OF IMPROVING AIR CARGO SAFETY IN AFRICA


AIR CARG O WEEK


08 BY Alhousseiny DJIGO


AFRICA records the highest rate of air accidents of any global region. While scheduled passenger aviation has made measurable safety gains in recent years, a less visible and more fragmented segment—air freight—continues to operate under sustained pres- sure. The expansion of e-commerce, rising movement of pharmaceuticals and agricultural produce, and the gradual ageing of parts of the cargo fleet are exposing structural weaknesses that concern aviation safety specialists. Recent data attributed to the African Union and


the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) indicate that Africa accounts for roughly 2 percent of global air traffic but close to 20 percent of serious accidents. Cargo operators in particular often rely on ageing aircraft, in some cases operated beyond in- ternationally recommended thresholds. Maintenance regimes and safety oversight differ widely between jurisdictions, while regulatory supervision of foreign operators remains uneven. At the same time, increas- ing logistics flows—including raw materials such as gold, coltan and petroleum products, alongside express parcel traffic—are placing additional strain on secondary airports with limited infrastructure capacity.


A development and security backbone From both an economic and security perspective, air freight is now a critical enabler of continental development. It underpins supply chain continuity, enables access to essential medicines, and supports the export of perishable goods. Yet each operation- al failure—whether linked to loss of control during take-off,


overloading, or maintenance deficien-


cies—reinforces the sector’s core constraint: safety margins are not flexible inputs.


ACW 20 APRIL 2026 Mauritanian airport logistics specialist Sidy Ould


Yahya identifies three recurring barriers to alignment with international standards, particularly ICAO re- quirements and RCAR frameworks. First,


screening outdated or infrastructure is


and logistics platforms lack high-capacity cargo scanners, and where equipment exists it is often non-operational


due to maintenance frequently insufficient. Many secondary airports shortfalls.


Smaller baggage scanners are sometimes deployed instead, requiring the dismantling of certified pallets, increasing both human error risk and disruption to cargo chain-of-custody integrity. Second, the implementation of certified secure areas—Known Consignor


zones—remains incon-


sistent. “Regulated storage areas (RFS) often lack tamper-proof physical perimeters. In shared ware- houses, the coexistence of general freight, sensitive freight, and unidentified packages makes the segre- gation of goods required by standards impractical,” he explains. Third, infrastructure reliability remains a persistent


constraint. Frequent power outages affect critical systems, including automated access controls, bio- metric verification tools, and cold chain equipment, many of which rely on single-source generators without redundancy. During peak export periods, a scanner outage may force freight through manual processing routes, increasing throughput pressure and weakening inspection consistency.


Fragile compliance Where formal certification is absent or inconsistent, operators are increasingly relying on contractual enforcement mechanisms to stabilise compliance across subcontracted networks. Ould Yahya de- scribes a model built around operational duplication of regulatory assurance: “We impose twinning requirements. A trucking subcontractor must


install traceable electronic


seals (GPS + tamper-evident) and is prohibited from unscheduled load transfers. Criminal liability is con- tractually transferred via addenda based on local law. We replace the lack of official certification with weekly technical audits.” In warehousing, facilities not formally certified


under RCAR frameworks are reconfigured into con- trolled “secure bubbles”,


incorporating continuous


camera monitoring, trained security personnel, and strictly limited access protocols. During transship- ment, a systematic visual re-verification process is applied to arriving vehicles, particularly where park- ing zones are not secured, creating a compliance incentive structure grounded in operational friction rather than formal accreditation alone. Civil aviation inspector Diarry Sall argues that


the principal limitation does not lie in the existence of regulatory frameworks, which are broadly aligned with international standards, but in the capacity to certify and sustain infrastructure compliance. Many secondary airports and cargo facilities con-


tinue to operate under provisional authorisations that are repeatedly renewed in practice, often due to their inability to fully meet ICAO Annex 17 requirements. Key deficiencies include incomplete perimeter securi- ty—runway zones with physical gaps or uncontrolled access points—and underdeveloped cargo segrega- tion systems, where physical separation between known and unknown consignments is not consis- tently enforced. These conditions create what describe


holders as “dual security”


sion. Findings from international airline audits are frequently used to reinforce national enforcement ac- tions, while loss of accreditation with a major carrier is often leveraged to compel corrective infrastruc- ture investment ahead of processes.


formal


reaccreditation


Regional coordination The AFI Plan (Comprehensive Regional Implementa- tion Plan for Aviation Safety in Africa) has contributed to measurable progress in harmonising aviation safe- ty frameworks across the continent. Its strengths lie in the standardisation of oversight methodolo- gies, the facilitation of regional audit cooperation, and the development of shared inspector training programmes, reducing reliance on bilateral technical assistance. Reporting mechanisms have also intro- duced reputational pressure that supports corrective action in some jurisdictions. However,


the plan lacks direct enforcement


authority and remains dependent on national imple- mentation capacity and political will. Some states utilise it as a structured management instrument, while others engage primarily at a procedural level to maintain audit compliance.


industry stake- pressures.


International carriers, particularly European opera- tors subject to EU Regulation 185/2010, alongside insurers, enforce stringent audit regimes on local freight agents, with decertification used as a correc- tive lever. At the same time, local economic pressures encourage volume retention strategies that can in- centivise informal compliance shortcuts. In practice,


inspectors operate within this ten- www.aircargoweek.com


Structural tension Air cargo in Africa now operates at the intersection of progress and persistent structural vulnerability. While regulatory frameworks and oversight mecha- nisms have advanced, operational reality continues to be shaped by ageing assets, uneven infrastructure quality, and fragmented enforcement environments. The result is a sector in which improvements in


safety governance coexist with systemic exposure in secondary logistics networks. The challenge is no longer confined to regulatory alignment, but to the


consistent operationalisation of


standards


across infrastructure, enforcement, and commer- cial practice.


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