Hi Ben, are you coming down WEST coast of Africa, rather than EAST coast, since seemingly plenty of riders presently doing EAST coast route?
I will dig out the details closer to the time, but there is a company that does bike shipments here in C.T. that is seemingly affordable AND reliable, in case you need to ship it back to the UK.
just f.y.i. Jim, a Brit, did the similar ride 2 - 3 years back, and similar bike, too, and put the sticker of every country he passed through on the front FENDER of his bike, then replaced the fender in CT with a new one, and flew out with a memento of his trip, to put up in his man-cave - nice story!
Safe raiding
Chis