Air cargo has become a key element of global supply chains, and it is expected to continue growing because of the increasing worldwide economic integration, shorter product life cycles, reductions in inventory stocks, and increasing competition between the airlines. The airlines competition has increased due to the demand for the speed and reliability benefits that air freight offers. The new industrial organizational concepts have made air cargo an important asset for world trade, supporting its dynamic including just-in-time and e-commerce, reduction of time to market, and enlargement of markets. The major challenge for future growth of air cargo transport is capacity limitations at major airports especially in Africa. The African countries are still politically unstable with regular revolutions, change of constitutions, and trucked elections to stay in power. Several factors in the next decades will give African countries the opportunity to turn the tide. This paper aims to assess the African Hub Airports (AHA) capabilities in terms of soft and hard infrastructures (SI & HI) and upgrade the most appropriate airport to be close to change requirements for an elite hub. The SI assessment includes transportation process, e.g., e-freight, airlines cooperation, electronic air waybill (e-AWB), and customs regulations. The HI assessment includes on-ground cargo handling, e.g., storage, warehousing facilities, handling equipment, specialized cargo aircrafts, and security measures. © 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.