UK to Africa shipping cost is driven by four things: the chargeable weight (the greater of actual weight or volumetric weight — for air, roughly (L×W×H cm) ÷ 5000), the air-vs-sea trade-off, the CIF value your duty is calculated on, and customs duty and taxes, which are separate and paid at the destination. Here's how each works.
Chargeable weight — why bulky things cost more
Carriers don't just charge by the scale; they charge on chargeable weight — the greater of your cargo's actual weight and its volumetric (dimensional) weight. Volumetric weight reflects the space an item occupies. For air freight the common rule is (length × width × height in cm) ÷ 5000 to get a volumetric kilo figure. So a box of feathers and a box of bolts the same size can be priced very differently — the bolts on actual weight, the feathers on the space they fill. Packing tightly and avoiding wasted air inside boxes genuinely lowers your bill.
Air vs sea — the core trade-off
The decision is simply: how fast do you need it, versus how much are you sending? A single urgent box flies; a household of barrels sails.
- Air freight — fast (days), priced per kg (Rolats: £5.90/kg + £20 handling), best for urgent, fragile or high-value goods, but more expensive per kilo.
- Sea cargo — slower (weeks), far cheaper for weight and bulk, priced per bag or barrel (Rolats: from £70/bag) or by container.
Why "per bag" pricing exists for sea
Most family shipments to Africa are standard barrels and bags of food, clothes and household goods. Pricing those by a flat per-bag unit is simpler and more predictable than measuring cubic metres on every consignment — you know the unit, you can pack to it, and the quote is easy to understand. Larger or commercial loads move by 20ft/40ft container instead, priced on request.
CIF — the value your duty is built on
Destination customs usually calculate duty on the CIF value: Cost of the goods + Insurance + Freight. That's why the declared value of your goods (and the freight cost) feeds into the duty figure — not just the price tag of the contents. Getting the value and HS classification right keeps the duty assessment clean.
Customs duty is separate — and paid at the destination
This is the part people miss: import duty and taxes are not part of your shipping price. They're set by the destination country's customs authority and normally paid by the importer or recipient on arrival, on the CIF value. Rates vary widely by country and product. Rolats quotes the shipping all-in in GBP with no charges at the African end, and tells you what destination duty to expect up front, but the duty itself is the one cost we can't bundle because we don't set it. See the Africa customs hub for the country detail.
Putting it together
Your total landed cost = Rolats shipping (all-in GBP) + destination duty and taxes (paid on arrival). Lower the first by choosing the right mode (sea for bulk, air for urgent) and packing to minimise chargeable weight; plan for the second by knowing your destination's duty before you ship.