As an independent African partner – the Thelo Group offers a fully integrated, fit-for-purpose transport and logistics model for Africa, by Africa – which includes playing a holistic and strategic role in the development, operations and management of regional development corridors.
Our aim is to help ensure that Africa’s strategic continental assets are strong and sound, by delivering integrated infrastructure and holistic solutions with solid commercial returns and high development impact. We build strategic partnerships to optimise Africa’s Transport and Logistics value chain to deliver substantial benefits for our range of stakeholders.
By delivering optimal infrastructure, operations and solutions that ensure the reliable movement of goods, we help freight owners thus – to increase output, drive business efficiencies and improve their bottom line.
We partner with governments and help make large developmental corridors a reality, turning railways and ports into even stronger national assets, able to better mobilise trade, investment and industrialisation.
We facilitate business and growth opportunities for our partners, clients and suppliers across the entire value chain and also build local capacity and skills for our corridors. We also train African talent for key roles across our various functions.
Our focus is to collaborate with select best-of-breed partners to deliver optimal financial and developmental returns, for greater prosperity.
We partner with Africa’s leading Development Finance Institutions and private sector financiers to fund, prepare and deliver transformational projects that attract the levels of investment needed to deliver appropriate financial and social returns, advance economies and positively impact lives across our continent.
Our partnerships with international exponents such as Deutsche Bahn (DB) – amongst the largest fully integrated railway conglomerates in the world – affords us the requisite and proven expertise, clout and capacity to develop complex railway projects on the continent; end-to-end from development, engineering, construction and operations management.
By harnessing our proven track record of partnerships and our expertise, we are setting a new standard in transportation infrastructure, solutions and operations to unlock growth for Africa’s transport & logistics sector and resulting economic prosperity for the continent.
Our aim is in part to help to foster greater regional integration and contribute to the strategic potential of the African Continental Free Trade Area. According to the AfDB, Africa’s transport infrastructure gap is estimated at $20 – 28bn per annum, which significantly hampers trade. A projected increase in intra-African freight demand of 28%, will translate to demand for an additional 100,000 rail wagons by 2030 for bulk and container cargo; which increases to over 160,000 wagons if planned infrastructure projects are also implemented.
We also believe that increasing transportation capacity for Africa’s vast resources is critical and the continent’s growing market for transition minerals can also be a critical enabler for clean energy in Africa, as well as for the world.
Transport infrastructure is also essential to facilitate the movement of inputs (such as fertilisers and equipment) and produce, to tackle food security in Africa.
This is why we extend the hand of partnership to those that share our holistic, high impact vision – one that, most of all, is fit-for-purpose for the African continent.
Notwithstanding the need to optimise transport & logistic infrastructure to catalyse trade and accelerate the AfCFTA, we are witnessing the rapid urbanisation and expansion of African cities, alongside the growth of our consumer markets and the youth demographic across the continent, which is attracting favourable investment.
The African continent sits at a nexus of critical opportunities that have the potential to shape its development trajectory.
Growing global demand for Africa’s natural resources which, can enable beneficiation and, therefore, the continent’s drive toward industrialisation, particularly supporting the world’s green economy.
Although presently under-developed, the transport and logistics sector in Africa plays a crucial role in the continent’s economic development by facilitating trade, investment, and overall connectivity.
Africa’s rail infrastructure, network and rolling stock require significant investment to bring them up to world standards and to fulfil the continent’s potential. Africa requires significant extension of the networks, connectivity and capacity along with modernisation, rehabilitation, improved maintenance, modern communications, better supply and stocks of spare parts, as well as more rolling stock, maintenance vehicles and equipment.
The Thelo Group offers a holistic, cross-cutting solution to unlock Africa’s development potential, with the aim of leaving a lasting legacy to advance economic development.
Developing regional transport and logistics systems is both technically and capital intensive, requiring an experienced champion.
The Thelo Group builds strategic partnerships to optimise Africa’s Transport and Logistics value chain, to deliver integrated infrastructure and holistic solutions with strong commercial returns and high development impact.
Thelo plays a holistic and strategic role in the development, operation and management of regional corridors.