From the newsletter
Global delivery giant DHL has announced a five-year investment plan worth $575 million to expand healthcare logistics in Africa and the Middle East. This initiative is part of its global healthcare investment strategy, focusing on regions with increasing pharmaceutical demand and emerging health infrastructure.
The investment will support transport and storage of time-sensitive medical goods, including vaccines, stem cells, cryogenics and insulin. DHL's operations are primarily based in South Africa, Egypt and Kenya.
This investment will strengthen Africa's capacity to address climate-linked diseases by improving the cold-chain supply for vaccines, supporting resilient health systems and enabling quicker responses to outbreaks exacerbated by rising temperatures and extreme weather events.
More details
DHL will develop infrastructure including specialised warehouses equipped with ultra-cold storage and serialization systems to track medicines from production to patient delivery. Ensuring supply chain integrity is central to this initiative, particularly for doctors who must rely on the safety and efficacy of transported medications at the point of care.
DHL’s healthcare lead for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, Annette Naude, confirmed the company's focus on Africa, where population growth is driving demand for pharmaceutical products. Naude highlighted a shift in international engagement in the region, noting the increasing Chinese investment in Africa’s medical infrastructure.
To combat the rising threat of climate-aggravated infectious diseases, vaccine delivery systems must become climate-resilient. Many countries in Africa lack the infrastructure to meet the growing demand for timely, temperature-sensitive vaccines. Without reliable logistics, life-saving immunisations cannot reach the people most at risk. This weakens already fragile health systems and undermines efforts to control preventable disease outbreaks linked to climate extremes.
Strengthening logistics is therefore an essential climate adaptation strategy. As noted in the Nature Microbiology correspondence, vaccines cannot be effective unless they are accessible at the point of need. This necessitates investment in supply chains that can function during floods, heatwaves or displacement events. It also calls for climate-informed planning, cold-chain innovation and decentralised distribution to ensure that medicines and vaccines remain safe, traceable, and available when communities need them most.
Our take
Africa's pharmaceutical sector is projected to generate $34 billion in revenue by 2030, driven by rising demand from a growing population. However, to realise this potential, the continent must overcome deep-rooted logistical challenges.
Gaps in cold chain logistics, poor road infrastructure and unreliable power supplies hinder the timely and safe delivery of temperature-sensitive medicines. Additionally, regulatory fragmentation across countries delays market access.
The sector also faces serious risks from theft, counterfeiting, and inadequate inventory systems. Many companies struggle with limited access to finance and skilled logistics personnel, which restricts their ability to scale. Furthermore, heavy dependence on imports exposes the supply chain to external shocks and disruptions.