MALI: The infrastructure throughout sub-Saharan Africa requires additional investments of billions per year to be brought up to par. In particular, the region’s ports are a bottleneck and contribute to lengthy delays that significantly increase the cost of doing business across the continent. So wouldn’t it be sensible to invest in a massive extension of port facilities all over Africa? Probably not.
As my colleagues and I show in our recent paper, “Why Does Cargo Spend Weeks in Sub-Saharan African Ports?” it is actually the collusion between controlling agencies, port authorities, private terminal operators, logistics operators, and large shippers that poses the biggest challenge to the efficient handling of goods. It is the governance of the ports that matters most, not the large-scale investments in infrastructure.
Here are the facts: Cargo dwells in sub-Saharan ports unusually long—more than two weeks on average, compared to under a week in large ports in Asia, Europe, and Latin America. Excluding Durban and Mombasa, the average amount of time cargo dwells in sub-Saharan ports is close to 20 days. These long wait times hurt the efficiency of port operations and the economy in general.
Congestion and delays at sub-Saharan ports make the region’s manufacturing companies (who typically depend on sea transport) largely uncompetitive. Consumers lose also, as imports become more expensive. For manufacturing companies, if they need to wait for weeks to get their inputs, they need to stock large quantities, which in turn creates the need for large and extremely costly inventories. As a result, it is difficult for countries with long cargo wait times to attract foreign direct investment.
Reaching the highest international standard for such wait times (3-4 days) is difficult since it requires having private sector practices at par with excellent public practices.
There are three categories of ports in the world: (1) “unreformed” ports, where average “dwell time” is more than 15 days; (2) “partially reformed ports,” where dwell times average between 6 and 10 days; and (3) “world-class ports,” with average dwell times of around 3 days.
In sub-Saharan Africa, most ports are still “unreformed.” However, some ports—Dar es Salaam, Mombasa—have made the first step and reduced the average dwell time from 15-20 to 6-10 days. This first step in port reform typically entails new investment in equipment and infrastructure, some changes in storage tariffs, new traffic flows, and increased storage areas (usually including storage capacity outside the port area).
