A new report from the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has revealed that despite substantial investments in African ports, the improvements have not translated into better inland logistics and supply chains. The report, titled “State of Africa’s Infrastructure 2024,” highlights that while ports across the continent have grown significantly in capacity, road and rail networks remain inadequate.
Since 2005, African ports have received around $15 billion in investments, enabling them to accommodate larger ships and handle more cargo. According to the African Development Bank, container traffic through African ports increased by nearly 50% between 2011 and 2021, from 24.5 million to 35.8 million units. Despite this growth, the AFC report suggests that poor inland transport infrastructure is preventing these gains from having a wider economic impact.
Gabriel Sounouvou, a logistics expert from Guinea, said that port investments have fostered greater integration with the global supply chain and helped reduce corruption through technological upgrades. “Modernizing ports brings transparency that curbs corruption,” Sounouvou noted.
However, the report points out that Africa’s road and rail systems remain underdeveloped, poorly distributed, and underutilized, making it difficult to move goods efficiently across the continent. Sounouvou added that bad road conditions, particularly in landlocked countries, cause significant delays, with trucks sometimes taking more than 10 days for journeys that should take just three.
Jonas Aryee, head of Maritime Economics at Plymouth University, also highlighted that human factors, such as customs and police roadblocks, further complicate transport across African borders, driving up the cost of doing business.
Africa has only 680,000 kilometers of paved roads, a figure that pales in comparison to India, which has ten times more despite similar population sizes. Experts suggest that the lack of regional coordination in road infrastructure development has stalled progress in improving continental trade routes.
Nevertheless, the AFC report anticipates that investment in African ports will continue, with new terminal projects planned in countries like Angola, Benin, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, and Ivory Coast.
