By: Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman & CEO of DP World, Chairman of the Ports, Customs & Free Zone Corporation
Within DP World and beyond, I’ve always championed Africa and its remarkable potential.
For years, I have been urging business leaders worldwide to see it not just as a source of raw materials, but as an export market for their goods.
Alongside these conversations, I have also driven many of our investments across the continent, guided by my principle that when others are discouraged by complexity or challenge, there is often opportunity.
To date, DP World has invested close to $3 billion in Africa, and we have committed to invest another $3 billion in ports and logistics infrastructure on the continent in the next three to five years.
My belief in Africa principally reflects its immense size, a new generation of visionary leaders, and the incredible capabilities of modern logistics.
Together, they will elevate Africa’s role in today’s trade landscape and, most importantly, will increase prosperity for its people.
Optimism amid challenges
Of course, there are economic headwinds. Most obviously, trade barriers across the world are rising – a point I well understand, given that DP World today handles just over 9%of global container trade.
Another consideration is the speed of progress following the creation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
This historic agreement, signed by 54 states containing about 1.4 billion people and ratified by 49 so far, has been operating since 2021. It has created the world’s largest free trade area by number of countries.
So far, fewer than half of member states are actively trading under its framework, according to a Reuters report in July, which also highlights concerns about tariffs.
We are keen to help drive progress, and especially since infrastructure, including hard infrastructure like warehouses and soft infrastructure like digital customs, has a key role to play.
Despite the challenges, I remain upbeat about the continent’s prospects and am keen to share why.
Growing economies
First, Africa is growing faster than the global average. In June, the World Bank forecast growth for Sub-Saharan Africa of 3.7% this year, followed by an annual average of 4.2% across 2026 and 2027.
That’s significantly higher than the forecasts for the global economy of 2.3% for 2025, and 2.5% across 2026 and 2027.
And while the World Bank has warned that these figures may change as trade barriers shift, they still highlight the continent’s higher growth rate.
Rwanda speaks to the future
Most encouragingly, the growth figures for many individual countries are far higher than the Sub-Saharan averages, which are pulled down by slower growth in its very largest economies.
A shining example is Rwanda, which posted growth above 8% for each of the past three years, and is forecast to grow 7% this year, with an average of 7.3% across 2026 and 2027.
This reflects successful smart government policy, but I’m especially delighted because DP World has played a supportive role, highlighting the value of infrastructure and logistics.
Unlocking the landlocked
Our Kigali Logistics Platform, located on the outskirts of the country’s capital, is an inland dry port and logistics hub developed under a 25-year agreement with the government signed in 2016.
With a capacity of 50,000 containers a year and services including bonded warehousing and cold storage, it connects the landlocked country to seaports in Mombasa, Kenya, and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
It also acts as a broader regional hub, supporting the neighbouring landlocked nations of Burundi and Uganda, as well as large parts of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), whose just 25 miles of coastline is on the other side of Africa.
Positive perspectives
Using my vantage point at DP World and the great privilege of meeting national and business leaders, I want to highlight five key insights that are shaping my view, and may inspire others:
New infrastructure is underpinning trade.This includes modern sea and dry ports and their development as regional trade hubs using special economic zones (SEZs), feeder shipping services and overland road and rail services. We are also creating inland economic corridors, including the Berbera Corridor linking landlocked Ethiopia to our port on the coast of Somaliland, and the Maputo Corridor linking South Africa’s inland Gauteng province to our port in Mozambique.
Africa’s leaders have vision and ambition. Today’s generation of political and business leaders in Africa are informed, ambitious and determined to create growth. When I meet them, this point is crystal clear. I’d also argue that it’s what you should expect in today’s connected world. The fact that almost all of Africa’s countries have ratified the AfCFTA speaks volumes.
Despite tariffs, other macro trends are supportive. The move to a multi-polar world and increases in South-South trade are both shaping trade patterns. As the latest data from UN Trade and Development shows, the share of global merchandise trade accounted for by South-South trade rose from 11% in 2000 to reach 26% in 2024. Africa has a significant role to play in developing and benefiting from these trends.
Technology is levelling the playing field. This includes broad benefits like information sharing that encourages trade and modern logistics that facilitate it, as well as specific services such as digital customs, real-time cargo tracking, and terminal operating systems. Technology also allows companies to use end-to-end logistics solutions and to target new markets. In these ways, companies large and small, across the world, are being empowered to increase trade.
Finance is available for African trade. We have built a Trade Finance division to back businesses, as I wrote last month, and it is actively financing African trade. For example, our first transaction with J.P. Morgan earlier this year supported a leading global food company in procuring cocoa from Côte d’Ivoire, one of the world’s most important agri-export regions.
