Freight forwarders in Africa
Freight forwarders serving growers, packers and exporters in Africa, including global operators active in the region.
AIT Worldwide Logistics is a freight forwarder headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, offering ocean freight, air freight, and customs clearance services alongside a dedicated cold chain logistics service for temperature-controlled shipments, including produce.
C.H. Robinson is a US-headquartered global logistics provider offering ocean, air, customs brokerage, temperature-controlled and project logistics services with regional Asia-Pacific headquarters in Shanghai, Singapore and Mumbai.
cargo-partner is an Austria-headquartered info-logistics provider and Nippon Express Group member offering air, sea and land freight, warehousing and cold-chain transport for perishables, with its Asia-Pacific regional head office in Hong Kong.
CEVA Logistics, a CMA CGM company headquartered in France, provides air and ocean freight forwarding, customs brokerage, and dedicated reefer and air-perishables cold chain services across around 170 countries.
Cool Cargo UK is a Hounslow-based freight forwarder that provides temperature-controlled air freight and reefer sea freight for perishable and pharmaceutical goods.
Dimerco Express Group is a Taiwan-based, Asia-Pacific-focused freight forwarder providing air and ocean freight, customs brokerage, and contract logistics across China, India and ASEAN.
DSV is a Denmark-based global transport and logistics provider offering sea freight, air freight, customs, and project logistics across more than 90 countries.
Europa Worldwide Group is a UK freight and logistics company that provides ocean freight, air freight, customs clearance and project cargo forwarding from its head office in Dartford, Kent.
Expeditors International is a US-based logistics company providing air and ocean freight forwarding, customs brokerage, and project cargo through a global network in over 100 countries.
Gateway Cargo is a Kent-based freight forwarder that provides ocean freight, air freight and customs clearance services from its head office in Strood, with an additional customs office at the port of London Gateway.
Hellmann Worldwide Logistics is a Germany-based freight forwarder operating in 62 countries with a dedicated perishable logistics arm offering temperature-controlled and reefer transport for food, flowers and edible oils.
Hemisphere Freight Services is a UK freight forwarder with a branch at Skelmersdale near the Port of Liverpool, offering ocean, air, road and project freight forwarding, customs clearance, and handling of reefer cargo.
Kerry Logistics (KLN Logistics Group) is a Hong Kong-headquartered, Asia-based global 3PL offering international air, ocean, road and rail freight forwarding, customs brokerage, project logistics and cold chain services across 58 countries and territories.
Kuehne+Nagel is a global freight forwarder offering sea and air logistics, customs, and dedicated cold chain and perishables services across close to 100 countries.
Mainfreight is a New Zealand-headquartered logistics company providing air and sea freight forwarding, customs brokerage and dedicated perishable freight handling across a network of offices in 27 countries.
Nippon Express (NX Group) is a Japan-headquartered logistics company providing air and ocean freight forwarding, customs brokerage, perishable logistics and project logistics across more than 50 countries.
Rhenus Logistics is a Germany-headquartered logistics provider offering air and ocean freight forwarding, road transport, customs brokerage and project logistics across more than 70 countries.
Röhlig Logistics is a Germany-headquartered, owner-run international sea and air freight forwarder offering customs brokerage, project logistics and temperature-controlled/perishable cargo handling across more than 35 countries including Australia and New Zealand.
Seafrigo is a France-headquartered cold-chain logistics specialist providing temperature-controlled ocean freight, airfreight, customs and reefer-container services for perishable goods across offices on five continents.
Sinotrans is a China-based logistics group and major NVOCC offering sea and air freight forwarding, shipping agency, and multimodal logistics from Chinese ports worldwide.
Woodland Group is a UK-based freight forwarder that provides ocean freight, air freight, customs clearance and temperature-controlled reefer logistics for perishable goods from its office in Hayes, Middlesex.
Yusen Logistics is a Japan-headquartered freight forwarder offering air and ocean freight forwarding, customs house brokerage, and cold chain logistics with reefer container and chilled/frozen air options for perishables.
Alexandria-based freight forwarder with over 25 years in the market, handling sea, air and land freight, cargo consolidation, inland transportation and customs clearance for foodstuff, cement, marble and general cargo shipments through Egyptian ports.
A perishables focused logistics company operating a temperature controlled warehouse and reefer container fleet in Gauteng, South Africa, providing ocean freight, air freight, road and rail transport, and cross border freight forwarding for chilled and frozen cargo across the SADC region.
Temperature-controlled freight forwarder specializing in perishables, handling around 80 million kilograms of Kenyan flowers, vegetables, fruit and fish annually for export by air, road and ocean, with a hub facility at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
An Algerian ship agent, broker and freight forwarder operating since 2004, providing port agency, vessel chartering, FCL and LCL container logistics, sea and air freight booking, customs clearance and heavy lift project cargo handling across more than ten Algerian ports including Algiers and Oran.
A Cape Town based ship agency established in 1998 that represents specialised reefer vessel operators Cool Carriers and Seatrade under the Reefer Alliance, handling large volumes of deciduous fruit and citrus shipments from a dedicated quay at the Fresh Produce Terminal in the Port of Cape Town.
Arusha based freight and transport agency licensed by Tanzania's shipping regulator to clear import and export cargo, offering sea, air, road and rail freight services along with vehicle import handling and door to door delivery in northern Tanzania.
A South African freight forwarder offering IATA accredited temperature controlled air freight and FCL and LCL reefer sea freight for fresh produce, wine, citrus and seafood exporters, with customs clearance and cold storage, operating from offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town.
An integrated freight and logistics provider operating since 2006 from Tema, offering ocean freight (FCL and LCL), air freight, road transport, customs clearance and pre-clearance support, warehousing, and door to door delivery for importers and exporters.
Kenyan branch of the global Bollore Transport and Logistics network, offering freight forwarding, customs clearance, warehousing, distribution and port handling with strategic offices in both Nairobi and Mombasa linking air, sea and land corridors.
Lagos based freight forwarder operating since 1994 offering FCL, LCL, RORO and breakbulk ocean shipping plus customs clearance including Form M and PAAR processing at Apapa, Tin Can Island, Port Harcourt, Onne and Calabar, and reefer container service for perishable and pharmaceutical cargo.
Cairo-headquartered freight forwarding company offering international air and ocean freight, trucking with insurance, customs clearance on DDU and DDP terms, exhibition cargo handling and 44,000 square meters of warehousing, with additional branches in Sokhna, Port Said and Alexandria.
Lagos based freight forwarder offering ocean and air freight, customs clearance, bonded and cold storage warehousing, and reefer container monitoring and plug in coordination for temperature controlled cargo moving through Apapa, Tin Can Island, Port Harcourt and Onne.
A Cape Town based freight forwarder specializing in exporting perishable and temperature sensitive cargo, handling FCL reefer containers and air cargo for citrus, grapes, stone fruit and other fresh produce, along with customs documentation and PPECB compliant cold chain logistics out of Cape Town and Durban.
A Lusaka based freight forwarder and customs clearing agent handling sea, air and road freight, import and export documentation, cargo consolidation and bonded warehousing, and a member of the WACO global freight forwarding alliance.
Local Tunisian agency of the global container shipping line, operating offices in Rades and Sfax with weekly vessel calls connecting Tunisia's main ports of Rades, Sfax, Sousse, and Bizerte to global trade routes.
Damietta-based maritime services provider with over 30 years of experience offering shipping agency, stevedoring, husbandry, marine survey and cargo insurance, and freight forwarding and logistics solutions for container and general cargo vessels across Egyptian ports.
Aviation ground and cargo handling company based on Sebugwawo Drive near Entebbe International Airport, operating a 1,000-ton cold storage facility for perishables, pharmaceuticals, fish and meat alongside cargo, ramp and customs document handling for airlines and shippers.
Kenyan operating unit of DHL Global Forwarding providing air, ocean, road and rail freight forwarding along with customs clearance services for import and export shippers based in Nairobi.
The South African arm of DHL Global Forwarding, offering ocean, air and road freight, customs clearing, and a dedicated Reefer Foods cold chain service handling temperature controlled fruit, vegetable and seafood cargo from minus 30 to plus 30 degrees Celsius with in transit temperature and humidity monitoring.
A Rwandan international transport and logistics company headquartered in Kigali since 2014, offering inland transportation, ocean and air freight, customs clearance and brokerage, groupage or load consolidation, and cargo insurance for regional and international shipments.
Dar es Salaam headquartered freight and logistics operator offering customs clearing for import, export and transit cargo, ocean freight covering full and less than container loads, air freight, project cargo handling and bonded warehousing across Tanzania.
A privately owned Namibian customs clearing and freight forwarding agency based at the Port of Walvis Bay, handling break bulk, general cargo, container groupage and international shipping for imports and exports across Southern Africa.
Egyptian shipping and logistics company operating container services from Alexandria and other Egyptian ports, specializing in reefer and perishable cargo. It handles over 11,000 TEUs of high cube reefer containers and more than 200,000 tons of citrus, onions and potatoes annually, and runs its own inland reefer trucking fleet plus customs clearance through a subsidiary.
Dar es Salaam based clearing and forwarding company providing customs clearance for import, export and transit cargo, along with sea freight, air freight and door to door delivery services, including consolidated shipping from China.
A freight forwarder headquartered in Kigali, Gikondo with an additional office in Dar es Salaam, providing air freight, ocean freight, road freight, customs clearance and cargo packaging for shipments moving between Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
A regional freight forwarder headquartered in Tema handling ocean freight (FCL, LCL, breakbulk), air freight including gold and temperature controlled shipments, road freight, licensed customs brokerage and project or oversized cargo across Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso.
A ZRA accredited customs broker and freight forwarder established in 2010, operating a warehouse at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport in Lusaka and offering road haulage, air freight and sea freight with regional links to Dar es Salaam, Durban and Beira.
Regional freight logistics group headquartered in Kenya offering air freight, sea freight, cross-border road transport, customs brokerage, warehousing and project logistics, with offices across East Africa and courier operations as the authorized UPS service contractor in Kenya.
Licensed customs brokerage and freight forwarding company based in Treichville, Abidjan, founded in 2016. Handles import and export customs formalities, port, airport and border transit operations, and organizes air, ocean, road and rail freight through a worldwide partner network.
A Zimbabwean customs clearing and freight forwarding company with over 15 years of ZIMRA-registered clearing experience and representation at all six major Zimbabwe border and airport entry points.
Moroccan customs broker and freight forwarder established in 1992 in Tangier, handling maritime, air and road freight together with customs clearance and import export consulting across Tangier, Casablanca and the Kenitra free zone.
Freight forwarder with direct operations at Tanger Med port and in Agadir, handling refrigerated ocean containers for fresh fruit and vegetable exports from Morocco to Europe, plus OEA-certified customs clearance for perishable shipments.
Casablanca-based freight forwarder and customs brokerage offering ocean and air freight import export handling, customs clearance and regulatory support with ONSSA and PortNet, operating from offices in Casablanca and Tangier.
Approved customs broker and freight forwarder based in Rades handling customs clearance, import export formalities, and international ocean and air transport for goods moving through Tunisian ports.
Agadir-based logistics provider specializing in perishable freight for over ten years, offering ocean, air and land transport with cold chain management, customs clearance and door to door delivery for fruit, vegetable and seafood exporters.
Kenya Airways cargo subsidiary operating the dedicated perishables handling facility at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, including pre-cooling pack houses for cut flowers, fruit and fresh produce plus temperature-controlled handling for pharmaceuticals and other specialised cargo.
Kenyan office of the global Kuehne and Nagel logistics network, providing air and sea freight forwarding, temperature-controlled logistics for perishables, and customs brokerage from Nairobi to global export markets.
The Algerian unit of the international Militzer and Munch freight forwarding group, active in Algeria since 2016 with branches in Algiers, Oran and Bejaia, offering sea and air freight, road haulage, rail transport, customs clearance and project cargo services.
Dar es Salaam based freight forwarder established in 1982 offering sea freight, air freight and road freight services, along with customs clearing, cargo consolidation and de-consolidation for import and export shipments.
A long-established Walvis Bay based freight, logistics and marine services group whose sister companies handle ships agency, break-bulk, dry-bulk and reefer transhipment, cross-border freight, and import/export cargo handling.
Ethiopia based freight forwarder using Ethiopian Airlines and international carriers for air freight, and shipping lines including Maersk, CMA CGM, PIL and Hapag Lloyd for ocean freight, plus customs clearance and Djibouti to Ethiopia land transport for import and export cargo.
Airport ground and cargo handling company at Entebbe International Airport, formerly Entebbe Handling Services (ENHAS), handling an estimated majority share of air cargo through the airport including fish, fruit, vegetables and flowers for Ugandan exporters.
Long-established Kenyan logistics company providing air cargo terminal operations at JKIA, sea freight, warehousing, customs brokerage and project cargo services, with facilities at Mombasa's Kibarani ICD and at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport.
A long-established Zimbabwean freight forwarder offering customs clearance, air freight and ocean freight services, with branch offices at Beitbridge, Chirundu, Nyamapanda, Plumtree and Harare International Airport routing cargo to and from regional ports.
Dakar-based freight forwarder and customs brokerage offering import and export clearance, cargo tracking, storage and worldwide shipping coordination for international trade shipments moving through the port of Dakar.
An independently owned South African freight forwarding and customs clearing agent established in 1992, offering sea and air import and export services from offices in Cape Town, Johannesburg and Durban, with an international office in Shenzhen.
Dakar-based freight and logistics company providing maritime transport for full and partial containers on major international routes, coordinating port operations, customs procedures and shipment tracking through to final delivery.
Nigerian freight forwarder and customs brokerage specializing in reefer cargo, transporting temperature sensitive goods such as frozen seafood, dairy and poultry through Nigerian ports, with port operations support including reefer plug in and terminal coordination.
Freight forwarder operating since 2000 with offices at Entebbe International Airport and in Kampala, handling air freight, LCL and FCL ocean freight via weekly Mombasa sailings, customs clearance and refrigerated container transport for perishable goods.
Licensed customs commissioner and freight forwarder operating in Abidjan and San Pedro, specializing in maritime, air and land transit, refrigerated container handling for perishables, and bulk loading of cocoa and cashew for export, ranking as a major cocoa export transitaire.
Apapa headquartered maritime and logistics conglomerate whose off dock terminal offers reefer container storage with about 200 plug in points near Apapa and Tin Can Island ports, alongside licensed customs clearing and forwarding, haulage, and warehousing services.
Kenyan-headquartered logistics group offering customs clearance, freight forwarding, warehousing, transport and air cargo handling services across East Africa, with operations in Nairobi, Mombasa and Eldoret and links to a global freight forwarder network.
Freight forwarding and logistics provider headquartered in Addis Ababa handling air freight clearance from Bole airport, ocean freight through Djibouti port and Ethiopian dry ports, customs clearance at multiple border and inland customs points, and project cargo transport by air, sea and land.
Freight forwarder and customs brokerage operating from Maputo, close to the port, handling container shipping and groupage, air cargo imports via LAM and TAP airline partnerships, and international transport to Swaziland, Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe.
Alexandria-based logistics provider with over 15 years of experience running air freight out of Cairo and Borg El Arab airports plus ocean freight through Egyptian seaports, offering temperature-controlled cold-chain handling for perishable cargo and customs clearance for import and export shipments.
A freight forwarder and licensed customs broker based in Tema with over 25 years in the industry, handling sea, air and land freight, customs clearance and documentation, and container haulage for import and export cargo moving through Tema Port and Kotoka Airport.
Freight forwarder based in Hann Mariste, Dakar, handling end to end international transport by sea, air and land, including customs clearance, container clearing, groupage and deconsolidation for import and export shippers.
Casablanca-based freight forwarder offering ATAF-accredited air freight and LCL/FCL sea freight forwarding, customs brokerage, bonded warehousing, and handling of perishable and temperature-controlled cargo for regulated and sensitive products.
Addis Ababa based logistics company providing customs clearance for imports and exports, project cargo handling, Djibouti free zone facilitation, and sea and air freight facilitation between Ethiopia and Djibouti and worldwide.
A large South African logistics group providing freight forwarding, customs clearance, and cold chain transport for citrus and other fresh produce exporters, coordinating with packhouses and carriers using air, sea and road transport from offices in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.
A Kigali based freight forwarding and logistics company founded in 2017 by Rwandan professionals, offering international air and ocean freight for import and export across the East African Community with shipment visibility through its own tracking platform, alongside car rental and logistics consultancy.
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This is an independent listing compiled from public information. Listings are not endorsements, and Fernable has no commercial affiliation with the providers listed.
Common questions
Do freight forwarders in Africa handle both import and export shipments?
Most freight forwarders in Africa handle both directions, but many have a stronger practical focus on whichever flow is more common for that market. It is worth asking directly which side of the business a given provider spends more of their time on, since day-to-day experience with export documentation differs from experience managing inbound customs clearance and delivery.
What should I check before choosing a freight forwarder in Africa?
Confirm which ports, airports, or border crossings the forwarder actually operates through in Africa, and whether their network covers the specific mode, ocean, air, or road, that the shipment needs. It also helps to ask about their experience with the particular goods involved, since handling requirements can vary significantly by cargo type.
Can a freight forwarder in Africa arrange the full door-to-door journey?
Many freight forwarders in Africa can arrange collection or delivery alongside the main international leg, coordinating trucking, customs clearance, and warehousing as needed. Coverage varies by provider, so it is worth confirming upfront whether they manage the full door-to-door route themselves or hand off part of the journey to a separate local partner.
How do I check whether a provider listed for Africa is actually reliable?
Look for a working address and contact details, and ask for references from businesses that have shipped through Africa recently rather than relying on a listing alone. Confirm the specific service you need, storage, freight forwarding, or customs handling, since a general logistics listing does not always mean deep capability in the one service that matters to your shipment. A provider willing to explain what happens when something goes wrong is a stronger signal than any credential.
Should I use a local provider in Africa or an international one with a presence there?
It depends on what matters more for your shipment. A local provider in Africa usually has deeper knowledge of ground conditions, relationships, and paperwork specific to that market, while an international provider offers a single point of contact and consistent processes if your goods also move through other countries. Many exporters combine the two: a local provider for physical handling in Africa, and a wider forwarder to manage the rest of the route.
What should I ask a provider in Africa before committing to work with them?
Ask what happens to your goods at each handover point, who is responsible if something is delayed or damaged, and what documentation they produce and when. Ask for a quote that breaks out individual charges rather than one bundled figure, so you can see what you are paying for at each stage. It is also worth asking directly how they have handled a shipment that ran into difficulty in Africa, since that answer tells you more than a general pitch.
Freight forwarders across Europe, the Middle East and Africa
The EMEA region spans some of the most tightly integrated trade infrastructure in the world alongside markets where road and port infrastructure is still developing, so what a freight forwarder in Africa actually offers depends a great deal on where in the region they sit. In parts of Europe, cross-border road haulage and rail freight move alongside ocean and air options with relatively standardised customs treatment, while in other parts of EMEA overland routes are limited and sea or air freight through a small number of gateway ports and airports carries most of the trade.
Regulatory environments vary sharply across EMEA, and a forwarder's familiarity with the specific customs regime, permitted documentation, and inspection practice at the borders Africa actually uses is often the deciding factor in reliable transit times. Some freight forwarders in Africa are set up mainly for regional distribution within a customs union or trade bloc, while others specialise in longer intercontinental lanes connecting the region to Asia or the Americas, and those are genuinely different skill sets even when both providers describe themselves the same way.
Political and security conditions across parts of the Middle East and Africa can affect routing choices and insurance considerations in ways that are less common elsewhere, so a forwarder operating in or through Africa should be able to speak plainly about current routing constraints rather than defaulting to a standard answer. Language coverage across EMEA is also wide, spanning several major language families, and a provider's working languages can matter as much as their transport network when coordinating with counterpart offices or customs brokers.
How trade moves through Africa
Africa's food and agricultural trade moves across a continent where infrastructure quality and trade routing vary enormously between and even within countries, and where a great deal of cargo travels substantial overland distances before it reaches a port at all. Landlocked countries depend on transit through a coastal neighbour to reach international shipping, which means the trade geography of the interior is defined as much by corridor agreements and transit route quality with a neighbouring state as by conditions in the exporting country itself. Coastal nations with well-established ports serve not only their own exports but function as gateways for goods originating well inland, and understanding which corridor a shipment will actually use is often more important than understanding the origin country's own infrastructure in isolation.
Trade patterns follow a small number of well-worn corridors linking major agricultural production zones to coastal ports, generally along road and rail links that were built around specific export commodities and have been reinforced over time rather than replaced by a denser network. This concentration means these corridors tend to be relatively reliable once cargo is on them, but it also means capacity and scheduling around them can be tight during peak harvest periods, and a delay at a single border crossing or port can affect a wide catchment of exporters relying on that same route. Storage capacity, both ambient and cold, clusters around these established corridors and their port cities, with production areas further from them served by a longer and more variable chain of aggregation and local transport before goods reach any formal storage or export infrastructure.
The provider landscape is genuinely mixed in scale. A layer of well-resourced international and regional logistics groups operates around the continent's major ports and busiest corridors, offering standards of documentation and cold-chain handling comparable to other developed export markets, while a much larger number of smaller, locally based transporters, aggregators, and warehousing operators handle the movement of goods from farm gate to those main corridors. These smaller operators are frequently the only realistic link between a production area and the formal export chain, and their local knowledge of roads, seasons, and community relationships is genuinely difficult to substitute with a larger operator's general capability.
Someone sourcing across several African countries at once should think in terms of transit corridors and gateway ports rather than national borders alone, since the practical route a shipment takes, and the country whose port infrastructure it depends on, may differ from its country of production. Regulatory and certification requirements differ by country and are not always harmonised even where regional trade blocs exist, so building in verification of current requirements per country, rather than assuming continuity from one to the next, avoids delay. Distances between production areas and ports can be considerable, and overland transport time and reliability deserve as much attention in planning as the ocean leg that follows. A buyer working across the continent benefits from treating the provider relationship at the local, in-country level as seriously as the international freight forwarding arrangement, since it is often that local link that determines whether a shipment reaches the corridor at all.
Sourcing across Africa as a trade area means matching expectations to the specific corridor and country combination involved rather than to the continent as a single entity, and valuing the smaller, locally embedded providers who connect production to the formal export chain as much as the larger operators who move goods once they reach it.
Comparing freight forwarders in Africa
Fernable lists a broad set of freight forwarders operating in Africa, which makes the practical task selection rather than discovery. With that many providers to choose from, the differences worth weighing are structural rather than cosmetic. Which trade lanes into and out of Africa does a forwarder handle as routine business, rather than the occasional one-off booking. Does it operate its own offices and agents along the route, or does it lean on subcontracted partners it does not directly control. How does it document customs clearance and compliance for the specific cargo type in question, and can it point to a concrete process rather than a general assurance. These are the factors that surface later as delays, unexpected costs, or clean execution, and they rarely show up clearly on a provider's own marketing pages.
Other differences look significant but carry little weight. A polished website, a long list of named partners, or broad claims of global reach say almost nothing about performance on a specific lane into Africa. Coverage across ocean, air, road, and rail only matters if a provider actually runs the mode relevant to the shipment on a regular basis, not merely lists it among its services. The same goes for breadth of cargo type. Handling everything from standard container loads to project or oversized freight is only meaningful if the provider can describe, in concrete terms, how it has routed and documented that category of cargo before. Confidence without specifics is a weak signal, however well it is presented.
The most efficient way to compare a crowded field is to run the same short set of questions past a shortlist, rather than reading every profile end to end. Ask what happens when a shipment is delayed at a border or terminal in Africa, and who takes ownership of resolving it. Ask what documentation the forwarder prepares directly versus what it expects the shipper to supply. Ask for a reference shipment on a comparable lane, not a general testimonial. Providers who answer with specifics, procedure, and consistency across the conversation are worth pursuing further, while vague reassurance, however confidently delivered, is the cue to move on to the next name on the list. Narrowing a large field does not require exhaustive due diligence on every provider listed: a short, consistent comparison built around lane experience, control over the route, and clarity under pressure separates real capability from adjacent capability far faster than reading marketing copy, and it keeps the decision anchored to what actually determines whether cargo moves through Africa on time and intact.