DHL Express and Absa Group are expanding support for small and medium-sized enterprises trading across African borders, combining logistics expertise with banking, digital tools and trade finance.
The companies have formalized a partnership under DHL’s GoTrade program, with the initial South African rollout expected to expand across Sub-Saharan Africa, according to Faisal Mkhize, Absa’s managing executive for business development.
The programme will provide SMEs with logistics and cross-border trade training through Absa’s network, while the bank contributes financial support and existing trade-finance products.
Removing Practical Trade Barriers
For smaller exporters, the obstacles are often less about demand than the practicalities of moving goods, accessing finance and understanding overseas markets.
“This is really about helping African SMEs turn big ambitions into real opportunities,” said Hennie Heymans, CEO of DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa.
The partnership combines DHL’s logistics expertise with Absa’s banking, digital and financial capabilities, including trade-finance support for SMEs. Absa also plans to explore more flexible financing for businesses linked to green logistics and sustainable supply chains.
From Training to Trade Finance
Mkhize said the program is intended to develop future exporters rather than generate immediate banking revenues.
“We believe we have a responsibility to create the capacity that is required,” said Mkhize.
Absa has more than 400,000 SME clients in South Africa alone, according to Global Trade Review. According to reports around 1,600 SMEs have already been trained through GoTrade in Uganda, with entrepreneurs in Kenya, Botswana and Zambia also participating. Mozambique and Tanzania are next in line for rollout.
SMEs Put GoTrade into Practice
DHL’s wider GoTrade program provides training covering international trade, e-commerce, customs, logistics and business development.
Dr Sarah Meinert, Global Head of DHL GoTrade, said its focus is on the main constraints facing smaller businesses: “finance, technology, knowledge, and logistics.”
DHL provided an example of how the service can help benefit smaller businesses. Belinda Esaete, founder of Kampala-based Beldeluxe Sleepwear, participated in the GoTrade fellowship after initially selling largely within her domestic market.
DHL says the business has since expanded its online range from ten products to more than 400 and now exports internationally. “The world, my world, has suddenly become so much bigger,” Esaete said in a profile of the business.
For African SMEs, programs combining finance with logistics and trade knowledge could help turn the market access promised by regional integration into actual cross-border transactions.
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