About 23 member countries of West and Central Africa are expected to follow the $20 billion proposed investment in deep seaport projects and infrastructure upgrades in Guinea-Conakry to strengthen the region’s competitiveness in global maritime trade.

Already, a total of $27.8 billion investment in port infrastructure has been proposed and committed to various projects. They are the $20 billion Simandou-Morebaya Deep SeaPort project in Guinea Conakry, $2 billion San Pedro port project in Côte d’Ivoire, $1.5 billion Lekki deep seaport in Lagos, $1.5 billion Tema Port project in Ghana and $1.2 billion Ndayane Port in Dakar.

There are also the $1 billion Apapa and Tincan Island port projects and the $600 million APMT proposed investment.

According to the discussions at the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA) mid-year session of the Board of Directors held in Lagos, ports across the sub-region cannot accommodate modern shipping demands due to limited infrastructure capacity.

Calls were also made for stronger financial governance, harmonised port tariff structures and improved statistical systems.

President of PMAWCA, Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, said member countries must intensify investments in port infrastructure, technology and deep-sea port development to strengthen trade facilitation and position the region as a major global maritime hub.

Dantsoho who is also the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) noted that while ongoing rehabilitation of older ports such as Apapa and Tin Can in Nigeria, Tema in Ghana, Cotonou in Benin Republic and Dakar in Senegal represented medium-term solutions, the region must pursue large-scale deep-sea port projects as long-term strategic investments.

He cited the $20 billion Guinea-Conakry deep seaport project as an example of the scale of investment required to compete globally, noting that the Lekki Deep Sea Port currently operates only two berths compared to emerging mega ports in Asia.

He stated that while some African ports are handling vessels of up to 18,000 containers, advanced hubs like Singapore are constructing facilities designed for 600 berths and ships carrying up to 24,000 containers.

Dantsoho noted that modern global shipping requires significantly deeper and more advanced infrastructure, adding that ports across the sub-region must increasingly embrace automation, data systems, artificial intelligence and robotics to improve operational efficiency and revenue generation.

He stressed that ports across the sub-region must undergo aggressive modernisation to remain competitive with other global maritime hubs, warning that delays in infrastructure renewal could leave Africa behind in global shipping and trade.

Speaking at the meeting, President of Finance, Economy and Studies at the Port of Douala, Cameroon, Babagnack Missi, presented a report on studies commissioned by the Secretary General of PMAWCA, Jean-Marie Koffi, on financial contributions, port tariff structures and administrative reforms within the association.

Missi said the committee was tasked with conducting a deep financial analysis and evaluating the implementation of resolutions relating to port construction, contribution systems and financial management procedures.

According to him, the committee examined the financial contributions of member ports and developed comparative studies to assess the continuity and impact of the contribution framework on the association’s financial stability.

The committee also recommended the use of statistical data in determining future contributions, while also reviewing several management procedures, including budgetary, administrative, asset management, financial and accounting procedures.

He also stressed the need for PMAWCA to gradually migrate from a cash-focused budgeting system to a performance-driven management framework while strengthening the human resource capacity of the Secretariat to ensure proper implementation of reforms.

Also speaking, President of the Statistics Network at the Dakar Port Authority, Senegal, Cira Fall, said the statisticians’ network had made significant progress in positioning port statistics as a strategic tool for decision-making and competitiveness across ports in West and Central Africa.

Fall said that since the network’s inaugural meeting, over 220 pages of PMAWCA statistical templates and concepts had undergone detailed technical analysis to reduce inconsistencies in data interpretation and improve comparability across member ports.