GCCA Africa Advisory Council chair Renier du Preez and vice chair Newton Matope tell us about GCCA’s strategic plan in 2025.
Advisory Council. Image by © Cold Link Africa
The Global Cold Chain Alliance (GCCA) is the global voice of temperature-controlled logistics. Du Preez is CEO of South Africa-based logistics business Digistics. He first became involved with GCCA Africa in recognition of the power and value of collaborative activity for the cold chain industry.
He explains: “At that time, a lot of the smaller temperature-controlled logistics businesses were closing, and as an industry we needed to find a way to move forwards. GCCA offers a channel for operators to come together to educate the government on common challenges, to share learnings in a tough industry, and to find solutions together. I wanted to be part of GCCA’s mission, and to have the chance to drive change for the better for our industry.”
Matope, president of Kenya-based cold storage and logistics business BigCold, became involved with GCCA Africa through his leadership in developing and expanding cold chain logistics in East Africa.
“BigCold is the region’s first cold chain 3PL service provider, and I recognised the need for wider industry collaboration, best practices, and policy advocacy. GCCA’s priorities align with BigCold’s commitments, and I was keen to contribute to industry discussions, network with global peers, and play a part in the efforts to address cold chain challenges in Africa.”
For Matope, GCCA Africa’s activities in 2025 are crucial for the growth and sustainability of cold chain businesses in Africa, with a wider impact resonating across the continent’s economy, food supply, healthcare, and the environment.
He explains: “Through the GCCA Africa network, cold chain businesses can access critical resources, training and technologies that help them improve operations, expand capacity, and stay competitive in a rapidly evolving global market. Strengthening the cold chain supports the growth of regional trade and opens African markets to international buyers, as well as the temperature-controlled logistics of vital pharmaceuticals, vaccines, and medical supplies.
“In Africa, where food security remains a challenge,” he continues, “enhancing cold chain infrastructure can help reduce post-harvest losses and ensure that fresh, nutritious food reaches consumers. And reducing food waste has significant environmental benefits, preventing the unnecessary use of resources and reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with food production and waste. Throughout 2025 and beyond, GCCA Africa is working to drive positive change across the continent.”
Improving food security by enabling the growth and efficiency of cold chain operations is the fundamental basis for GCCA’s mission, according to Du Preez: “As much as 30% of African produce can end up as waste, which has major food security implications. Temperature-controlled storage and refrigerated transportation can be transformational. GCCA is working to bring into Africa the benefits of the alliance’s global perspective and network, both through action within the continent but also linking up global trade, making sure temperature-controlled food is moving safely around the world, and working to improve food security. Africa is seeing a great deal of change in populations, trading relationships and the economic environment, and GCCA is supporting the cold chain both to access the opportunities and to address the challenges that these changes create.”
To maximise the positive impact of the Alliance’s activities, the GCCA Africa Council is implementing a strategic plan for 2025. This plan is designed to support growth in Africa’s cold chain industry with a strong focus on infrastructure enhancement, workforce capacity development and application of market intelligence.
“This year GCCA Africa will be increasing its focus on generating data and insights that will help GCCA members to make decisions for their own businesses, looking across import and export, and at national, continental and global levels,” explains Du Preez. “Our strategic plan for this year also includes a major focus on the development of the skills that Africa’s temperature-controlled logistics needs, for today and for the future. As well as promoting the cold chain as a great career choice, we are looking to support more specialist skills and training through opportunities for GCCA members to share training sessions, and by seeking support from governments and regional authorities. We will also be exploring the exciting potential to bring the GCCA’s world-renowned Cold Chain Institute to Africa in the coming years.”
As well as helping to bridge the current cold chain training and skills gap, Matope highlights a number of further challenges that GCCA Africa’s strategic plan will address: “Several barriers continue to hinder Africa’s cold chain expansion. Infrastructure and high capital costs make it difficult for businesses to scale operations, operators are also faced with energy constraints, and limited access to financing due to high investment costs and risk perceptions. The strategic plan is focused on overcoming these obstacles.”
“The plan also includes action to support the opportunities for cold chain growth across Africa,” he adds, “including opportunities related to the expanding demand for temperature-controlled logistics, the expansion of regional trade through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), an evolving retail landscape, pharmaceutical and healthcare cold chain expansion, and the adoption of advanced cold chain technologies.
“Take our industry’s common challenge of energy constraints as an example,” adds Du Preez. “Energy prices continue to increase globally, we can expect prices to stay high and keep rising, and at the same time in Africa we don’t have the luxury of reliable, continuous access to electricity. There are approaches that help cold chain operators manage these challenges. At Digistics we have made major investments into onsite solar energy generation. We now utilise solar for 20% of our energy consumption and are making substantial cost savings as a result. GCCA Africa’s strategic plan supports operators with challenges such as this through providing guidance and advice, seeking government policies that facilitate and incentivise investment in renewable energy generation on cold storage sites, and creating a forum where 3PLs can share knowledge and experiences.”
The GCCA Africa Council has a programme of actions and activities to implement this strategic plan. This includes strong promotion of the industry, positioning cold chain logistics as a key driver of economic and food security and creating a stronger service provider market.
It also includes programmes that prioritise engaging with governments, policy makers, investors, international organisations and industry stakeholders. Matope says: “We are working with African governments to promote business-friendly policies, incentives and regulatory reforms that encourage investment in cold chain infrastructure, and we are fostering knowledge exchange and technical assistance with relevant organisations worldwide. We are also exploring the potential for partnerships with educational institutions to develop specialised training courses tailored to the cold chain industry.”
An initiative which Matope highlights is the April 2025 trade mission in Ghana, in which GCCA is participating alongside the US Meat Export Federation (USMEF). As well as creating a unique opportunity to engage with key stakeholders, this trade mission explored investment opportunities and strengthened regional cold chain networks.
He says: “This was a crucial step in driving industry collaboration, policy discussions and business expansion in West Africa. The relationships built and progress made are going to make an important contribution to our broader goal of enhancing Africa’s cold chain infrastructure and supporting sustainable economic growth.”
Underpinning the implementation of the strategic plan is an ambition to grow the GCCA network in Africa, further increasing the power of the alliance’s voice to government and broadening the opportunity to share knowledge and to collaborate on solutions to shared challenges. Du Preez says: “In March this year, the International Monetary Fund assessed South Africa as the most difficult place to do business in the world. There is great potential but major challenges for cold chain growth throughout Africa. We can help each other.”
Coming together to share knowledge, examine food security issues and collaborate on solutions will be a key focus at this year’s GCCA Africa Cold Chain Conference, taking place in Durban from 20–21 August 2025. Du Preez explains: “This event is always something to look forward to. The conference programme offers something unique and new each year, and the whole event is an important chance for our industry to come together with shared purpose. Look out for the 2025 speaker programme and booking information on the GCCA website.”
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