Transport 02/08/2023 - 10:40 / Comments

TRANSPORT/Maritime transport: Ranking of the best performing container ports in Africa in 2022.

Port Tanger Med, N°1 of African ports in 2022.

The World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence point out that the majority of ports on the African continent suffer from excessively long loading-unloading cycles, which pose a constant risk of disruption to the supply chain.

Apart from two ports located in North Africa and the port of Djibouti, African port infrastructure is among the worst performing in the world in 2022, according to a report published on May 18, 2023 by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence.

Entitled "World Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) 2022", this report compares the performance of 348 container ports around the world according to their efficiency, by measuring the time elapsed between the arrival in harbor of a ship and its departure from the berth, once the cargo exchange has been completed.

It shows that five ports in North Africa are in the Top 10 of the most efficient container ports on the continent. The Moroccan port of Tanger Med ranks first in Africa and 4th in the world. This port located in the heart of a special economic zone, which extends over nearly 2,000 hectares and hosts more than 500 companies operating in particular in the automotive, aeronautical, textile and agri-food sectors, has gained two ranks in the world ranking compared to to the 2021 edition of the index.

On the African scale, Tanger Med is followed by Port Said (Egypt), which occupies the 10th position in the world ranking, the port of Djibouti (26th in the world) and the port of Berbera in Somaliland (144th).

Next come the ports of Casablanca (Morocco), El Dekheila (Egypt), Damietta (Egypt), Conakry (Guinea) and Dakar (Senegal). The port of Matadi in DR Congo closes the African Top 10. (See full ranking of top performing African container ports below).

The report also indicates that the majority of African ports suffer from excessive loading/unloading cycle times, which pose a constant risk of disruption to the supply chain.

Globally, the Chinese port of Yangshan tops the ranking of the most efficient container ports in 2022, despite the occurrence of typhoons and other factors that disrupted its operation in 2022.

Apart from the excellent performance of the port of Yangshan, which had occupied the 4th position globally in 2021, the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence highlight this year the good performance of port facilities in the Middle East & North Africa region. Three ports in the region occupy the first five places in the ranking, the second going to Salalah (Oman), the third to Khalifa (Abu Dhabi) and the fourth to Tanger Med (Morocco).

Furthermore, the third edition of the report on the World Container Port Performance Index finds overall a marked improvement in operational conditions since the unprecedented disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Around the world, container ports continue to catch up. They could, however, improve their efficiency in certain areas provided they increase their productivity and improve the quality of their services by further dematerialising procedures and modernizing infrastructures.

Ranking of the best performing container ports in Africa in 2022: