info.afrindex.com
China-Africa Trade Information Service
info.afrindex.com
China-Africa Trade Information Service
Photo from My Joy Online
At present, Africa's foreign seaborne trade is characterized by energy, raw material exports, industrial manufactured goods and consumer goods imports. Although the number of coastal ports is large, the scale is generally small.
Investment in ports and their related transport infrastructure to advance trade and promote overall economic development and growth is therefore vital – particularly in emerging economies that are currently under-served by modern transportation facilities.
Report shows that a 25% improvement in port performance could increase GDP by 2%, demonstrating the close relationship between port effectiveness and trade competitiveness.
With growing congestion in many African ports, Africa runs the risk of sacrificing further growth through lack of investment in port terminal infrastructure.
Despite the high volumes of goods that require transport, the development and integration of ports in Africa’s wider logistic chains remains uneven.Some ports are important generators of benefit and serve large hinterland areas, often extending beyond national borders.
Others lag in terms of available facilities, reliability and efficiency in the handling of freight, which increase supply-chain costs.The disparities in performance between different ports impacts on Africa transport logistic chains, and makes African countries less competitive than they could be.
While the global transportation and logistics industry can no longer afford to ignore developments in Africa.
Logistics service providers and ports in particular will continue to play a key facilitator role in trade competitiveness and thus facilitate trade and sustained economic growth across the region.
