Logistics
Logistics is the sector concerned with the planning, implementation and control of the efficient movement and storage of goods, services and information from point of origin to point of consumption. The industry encompasses transportation, warehousing, inventory management, materials handling, packaging, supply chain coordination and distribution network design. Logistics activities span multiple modes of transport including road freight, rail, maritime shipping, air cargo and intermodal operations. The sector plays a critical role in manufacturing, mining, agriculture, retail and e-commerce by ensuring that raw materials, components and finished products reach their destinations on time and in good condition. Key players include third-party logistics providers, freight forwarders, courier services, port operators and integrated supply chain specialists. In Africa, logistics faces particular challenges including infrastructure deficits, border delays, regulatory complexity and the need to serve dispersed markets across vast distances. Technology adoption is transforming the industry through warehouse automation, fleet telematics, route optimisation software and digital freight platforms. The sector is a significant employer and contributor to GDP in most economies, with performance directly affecting trade competitiveness and the cost of doing business. Logistics efficiency is measured by metrics such as on-time delivery rates, inventory turnover, transport costs as a percentage of sales and order fulfilment cycle times. Environmental concerns are driving interest in green logistics practices including fuel-efficient vehicles, route consolidation and reverse logistics for product returns and recycling.
Logistics Updates
BLSA reform tracker warns against complacency in energy, logistics reform
By: Tasneem Bulbulia 27th July 2026 Business organisation Business Leadership South Africa’s Reform Tracker quarterly update, released last week, shows real progress in home affairs... →
City welcomes Transnet's call for private partners for the Port of Cape Town
By: Schalk Burger 20th July 2026 The City of Cape Town welcomes State-owned Transnet's call for private sector partners to upgrade and operate the multipurpose terminal at the Port... →
Phillips questions need for middlemen, slams practice of overcharging Transnet 
By: Irma Venter 20th July 2026 Transnet group CEO Michelle Phillips says the State-owned rail, ports and pipeline logistics group is putting measures in place to ensure that it... →
South Africa's financial resilience built up by fiscal reforms; broader reforms must continue – BLSA
By: Schalk Burger 20th July 2026 The resilience shown by the South African economy since re-escalation of the US-Israel and Iran war, with the rand holding up better than it has... →
Innovatively expanding infrastructure to accommodate diverse value chains likely to boost Africa's economies
By: Schalk Burger 17th July 2026 Uganda, in 2015, worked with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to build roads in the eastern DRC, which enabled goods manufactured in Uganda... →
Transnet board's term extended by six months
By: Creamer Media Reporter 14th July 2026 Transport Minister Barbara Creecy has extended the term of State-owned Transnet's board of directors by six months to January 11, 2027, or until... →
Measured ambition
By: Terence Creamer 10th July 2026 South Africa’s planned R1-trillion infrastructure programme is undoubtedly a chance to revive the struggling construction sector and to stimulate... →
Africa attracted investment in 2025; the challenge is turning it into broader industrial development – Unctad
By: Schalk Burger 7th July 2026 Foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows to Africa reached about $70-billion in 2025, which was below the exceptional $94-billion recorded in 2024,... →
BLSA calls for collaboration, tackling corruption to reverse Joburg decay
By: Tasneem Bulbulia 29th June 2026 Business organisation Business Leadership South Africa’s (BLSA’s) council last week met to consider research on the state of Johannesburg,... →
Johannesburg is not poor. It is badly managed. That must change.
29th June 2026 Last week the BLSA Council met to consider research on the state of Johannesburg, presented by Lael Bethlehem of Genesis Analytics. The findings... →
