en.Wedoany.com Reported - Driven by strong demand and higher freight rates, a wave of new capacity has recently flooded the India-Africa route, with the latest addition being a consortium of three Asian shipping lines: HMM, Cosco, and Pacific International Lines (PIL).

The three companies will jointly deploy six vessels—three from HMM, two from Cosco, and one from PIL—to operate a weekly service. The route has been named the "Gulf-India-East Africa" (GIA) service by the Korean shipping line.

The GIA service, with a 35-day rotation, will call at: JNPA (Nhava Sheva)-Mundra-Dar es Salaam-Mombasa-Nhava Sheva, with the maiden voyage scheduled for September 23. The partners stated that this new loop will boost this growing trade lane with faster transit times. In a statement, HMM noted that with the launch of the GIA service, the company expects to provide customers with more efficient and reliable maritime transport.

Meanwhile, French shipping line CMA CGM has launched a weekly direct service, Kilima, connecting the Far East to Kenya and Tanzania. This independent loop includes a call at Colombo, Sri Lanka, and serves Indian shippers via transshipment.

The new services are being launched at a time when Africa is being viewed as an alternative sourcing hub for Western importers due to its low-cost production advantages. Data shows that bilateral trade between India and Africa grew 14% year-on-year in the 2025-26 fiscal year, with Indian exporters diversifying their markets amid ongoing volatility in the Western trading environment. Container freight rates from India to East Africa have also become more attractive, with bookings from Nhava Sheva (JNPA) to Mombasa or Dar es Salaam currently priced at approximately $2,300 per TEU and $2,800 per 40-foot container.

Stakeholders in India's logistics industry hold an optimistic outlook on the India-Africa trade corridor. Vinayak Shukla, Head of the Africa Trade Lane at Mumbai-based Triton Logistics & Maritime, stated that for multinational corporations, Africa is a stable and sustained market where major shipping lines have already established a presence, and large groups are actively investing in port infrastructure development—improvements that will facilitate shipping routes and services to inland African destinations. Pushpank Kaushik, CEO of Hyderabad-based diversified maritime group Jassper Shipping, added that the India-Africa trade corridor is evolving toward more complex, value chain-based partnerships, with the market observing growing demand for project cargo, pharmaceutical products, engineering goods, automotive components, food products, and renewable energy equipment entering East and West Africa.