Google Invests in Lori Systems to Enhance Africa’s Digital Transport System

Emma Okonji

 Lori Systems, the e-logistics company digitizing haulage and providing shippers with solutions to efficiently manage their cargo and transporters, has announced an investment from Google that would support digital transport management in Africa.

Named by the Financial Times earlier this year as Africa’s seventh fastest-growing company, Lori Systems has helped thousands of shippers and carriers move over $10 billion of cargo across the continent since it was founded in 2017.

According to Knight Frank’s Logistics Africa report, 75 per cent of the price of a product in Africa is attributed to logistics, compared to just 6 per cent in the U.S. On the continent, logistics operators face a host of problems; from fragmented supply and demand markets to inconsistent pricing, paper documentation and little or no access to financing. A pioneer in e-logistics in Africa, Lori Systems lowers the cost of goods by eliminating pain points along the cargo journey; seamlessly connecting shippers to transportation; providing shippers with solutions to efficiently manage their cargo and transporters, and digitising their entire transport operations from sourcing transportation to documentation and payments. 

Lori Systems Co-founder, Jean-Claude Homawoo, said: “In recent years the global logistics industry has seen much innovation. However global supply chains are in dire need of modernization, with technologies yet to reach critical scale. On the continent, the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is expected to lead to an 81 per cent increase in intra-African trade, providing a $21.9 billion opportunity in untapped trade potential that the 54 ratifying countries are hoping to capitalise on over the next five years. Logistics is key to unlocking this opportunity.”