Ports

West African Ports Strained as Vessel Sizes Outpace Terminal Capacity

Infrastructure limitations across West African ports are becoming increasingly apparent as container throughput climbs 4% year-on-year. The growth is driven by larger vessels entering the region's trade lanes. The introduction of 24,000 teu ships on MSC's Africa Express service, which launched last April, has placed unprecedented pressure on terminal operations from Lomé to Kribi. Douala operated at 102% utilization last year with volumes surging 48%, while Conakry, Dakar, Lomé and Pointe-Noire ran between 81% to 84% capacity. Tema in Ghana has suffered congestion stretching four to seven days, persisting near six-day delays despite recent improvements. Industry specialists warn the bottlenecks reflect fundamental misalignment between expanding vessel capacity, rising cargo volumes and terminal processing capabilities. Investment levels and planned infrastructure developments remain inadequate for the region's accelerating container market growth.