Africa-Asia trade Africa-Asia air trade is driven by continued Asian investment and African consumer demand. The developing Africa-Asia air cargo market has averaged 27% annual growth during the past decade. The rate has slowed, however, in recent years. The average annual growth rate for bidirectional air cargo tonnage between Africa and Asia reached its peak between 2001 and 2006, hitting 65% Growth dropped to 5.8% between 2006 and 2011. Total Africa-Asia air trade fell another 8.3% in 2012 but then rebounded by 3.1% in 2013. Capital investments in African extractive industries (e.g., oil from Sudan and copper from Zambia)and growing African economies that demand more consumer goods, particularly from China, will continue to drive Africa-Asia trade, Directional air cargo flows are significantly imbalanced, with about six times as much air cargo entering Africa from Asia as leaving Africa for Asia. Two prominent factors continue to complicate estimating the size of this market. First, trade lanes that include both sea and air, principally via airports in the United Arab Emirates, offer the possibility of lower cost transportation between Africa and Asia. As a result, a great deal of Asian cargo arrives in Africa as air cargo from the Middle East. Second, much air cargo from Asia arrives as the excess baggage of small traders who import goods for sale in Africa.