The higher frequency of connections, a sign of growing volumes between Asia and Africa, is also a real opportunity for the shipowner, who is stepping up its presence on the continent.        

Global shipowner MSC has been voted "Best Shipping Line - Asia-Africa" at the Asian Freight, Logistics and Supply Chain Awards (AFLAS), a prestigious global accolade for the leading players in transport and logistics. This is the 4th time the Group has won the award, following its success in 2019, 2020 and 2022.

According to the carrier, this new award consolidates the continued solid performance it has achieved in recent years in connecting the African continent to Asia, which has become one of the continent's main supply hubs.

"With two robust services offering direct connections, MSC connects the two continents with its Africa Express and Ingwe services. We have also continually developed new and improved services to help our customers overcome today's industry challenges and provide them with exceptional and reliable coverage.

For example, our Africa Express service has been improved with a new direct stopover in Abidjan. By eliminating the Colombo stopover on the Africa Express and Ingwe services, we have also managed to shorten our transit time by 2 days", explains the airline in a press release.

Asia is currently the main supply and export pole for Africa, which has increased its import volumes from this supplier, particularly for manufactured goods, while sales to this market are more focused on raw materials.

The growing potential of the African market has also motivated MSC to take over the Bolloré group's port branch in Africa, in line with its expansion policy, in particular to control its value chain. Prior to Bolloré, which became AGL under its banner, MSC's TIL subsidiary was one of the group's operational arms for the operation of port terminals in Africa.

Agence Ecofin