By Ayomide Otitoju
Several Sub-Saharan African economies are emerging among the world’s fastest-improving in global connectedness, according to the latest DHL Global Connectedness Report 2026, which shows that globalization remains resilient despite rising geopolitical tensions and uncertainty in global trade policies.
The report, released by DHL in partnership with New York University Stern School of Business, is based on more than nine million data points tracking international flows of trade, capital, information, and people. It provides one of the most comprehensive assessments of globalization trends worldwide.
According to the findings, global connectedness stood at 25 percent in 2025, matching the record high first reached in 2022, indicating that cross-border economic and social flows remain strong even amid growing geopolitical tensions and tariff disputes.
Within Sub-Saharan Africa, the report highlights a mixed but generally improving picture. While levels of integration into global networks vary across the region, several countries have made significant progress over the past two decades.
Namibia ranks among the top three countries globally for long-term increases in global connectedness since 2001, while Mozambique also features among the strongest long-term improvers. More recent gains have been recorded by Nigeria and Zambia, which are listed among the countries with the largest increases in connectedness since 2022, reflecting expanding trade, investment, and people flows.
Commenting on the findings, Hennie Heymans, CEO of DHL Express Sub-Saharan Africa, said stronger global links are helping African economies become more visible within international trade networks.
He noted that the continent is gradually shifting “from a narrative of aid to one of trade,” driven by stronger integration, improved competitiveness, and better access to global markets. Heymans added that unlocking Africa’s full potential will require stronger regional connectivity, predictable cross-border processes, and logistics partners capable of linking local markets to global trade networks.
Beyond trade and investment, the report also found that global people flows have fully recovered from the downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Data from the United Nations show that Africa recorded a 17 percent increase in international tourist arrivals in 2025 compared with 2019, the second-largest rise among world regions after the Middle East.
In the report’s 2024 ranking of 180 economies, South Africa ranked 53rd globally in overall connectedness. Other Sub-Saharan African countries with relatively strong positions include Seychelles (40th), Mauritius (65th), Namibia (68th), Ghana (97th), Nigeria (100th), Mozambique (107th), and Kenya (119th).
The report measures globalization on a scale from 0 percent, representing no cross-border flows, to 100 percent, indicating a world where borders and distance no longer affect interactions.
John Pearson, CEO of DHL Express, said the stability of global connectedness demonstrates the enduring value of globalization.
“From poverty to climate change, the world’s biggest challenges require global thinking,” he said, noting that countries and companies continue to maintain international ties rather than retreat behind national borders.
Despite geopolitical tensions, including growing competition between the United States and China, the report finds little evidence of a large-scale fragmentation of global trade. Over the past decade, only 4–6 percent of global goods trade, greenfield foreign direct investment, and cross-border mergers and acquisitions have shifted away from geopolitical rivals. Most of these flows have moved toward countries with more flexible geopolitical positions, such as India and Vietnam.
Steven A. Altman, Director of the DHL Initiative on Globalization at NYU Stern’s Center for the Future of Management, said political debates about globalization often appear more dramatic than the actual changes in international flows.
He noted that although trade patterns shifted somewhat in 2025, the changes were less significant than those seen during earlier disruptions such as the early stages of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
First published in 2011, the DHL Global Connectedness Report analyzes 14 types of cross-border flows across trade, capital, information, and people. The 2026 edition evaluates 180 countries, representing 99.6 percent of global GDP and 99 percent of the world’s population, and includes detailed one-page globalization profiles for each country.
The report was commissioned by DHL and authored by Steven A. Altman and Caroline R. Bastian of the NYU Stern School of Business.
