{"id":101346,"date":"2026-10-17T17:57:32","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T17:57:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tv.guardian.ng\/?p=101346"},"modified":"2026-10-21T10:16:42","modified_gmt":"2026-10-21T10:16:42","slug":"africa-doesnt-need-more-ports-here-is-what-it-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/africa-doesnt-need-more-ports-here-is-what-it-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"Africa doesn&#8217;t need more ports: Here is what it needs"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"dailymotion-player\"><script src=\"https:\/\/geo.dailymotion.com\/player\/x1ee8e.js\" data-video=\"xagec86\"><\/script><\/div><br><br><p>\n Is building more seaports the true solution for Africa&#8217;s maritime growth? While a call for new ports echoes across West and Central Africa, a critical question emerges: does the continent truly need more infrastructure, or does it require greater efficiency at its existing ports?<\/p>\n<p>Nigeria, for instance, boasts several major seaports, yet the process of clearing a container can stretch to an astonishing 21 days. This delay is a direct consequence of deep-seated inefficiencies plaguing the ports.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple regulatory agencies create bottlenecks, while extortion by various actors along port corridors adds significant costs and frustration. High handling and clearing charges further burden trade, compounded by a sluggish adoption of digitalization and port modernization. Pervasive issues with port infrastructure also play a detrimental role.<\/p>\n<p>Industry data reveals that these inefficiencies are costing Nigeria trillions of Naira. It&#8217;s time to shift the focus from quantity to quality, asking if investing in making existing ports work better is the key to unlocking Africa&#8217;s true maritime potential.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Is building more seaports the true solution for Africa&#8217;s maritime growth? While a call for new ports echoes across West and Central Africa, a critical question emerges: does the continent truly need more infrastructure, or does it require greater efficiency at its existing ports? Nigeria, for instance, boasts several major seaports, yet the process of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101347,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gam_disable_ads":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42075,37964],"tags":[41328,11235,17625,6484,1960],"class_list":["post-101346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-maritime","category-top-video","tag-african-ports","tag-efficiency","tag-maritime","tag-port","tag-trade"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Africa doesn&#039;t need more ports: Here is what it needs - GuardianTV<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Is building more seaports the true solution for Africa&#039;s maritime growth? While a call for new ports echoes across West and Central Africa, a critical question emerges: does the continent truly need more infrastructure, or does it require greater efficiency at its existing ports?\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/africa-doesnt-need-more-ports-here-is-what-it-needs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Africa doesn&#039;t need more ports: Here is what it needs - GuardianTV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Is building more seaports the true solution for Africa&#039;s maritime growth? While a call for new ports echoes across West and Central Africa, a critical question emerges: does the continent truly need more infrastructure, or does it require greater efficiency at its existing ports?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/guardian.ng\/tv\/africa-doesnt-need-more-ports-here-is-what-it-needs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"GuardianTV\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-10-17T17:57:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-10-21T10:16:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com\/tv.guardian.ng\/2026\/06\/c-xqe3.jpg-1.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1214\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"2160\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Abiodun Ogundairo\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Abiodun Ogundairo\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/africa-doesnt-need-more-ports-here-is-what-it-needs\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/africa-doesnt-need-more-ports-here-is-what-it-needs\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Abiodun Ogundairo\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/a7ea396ab9bae73d4845496dbad885f1\"},\"headline\":\"Africa doesn&#8217;t need more ports: Here is what it needs\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-17T17:57:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-21T10:16:42+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/africa-doesnt-need-more-ports-here-is-what-it-needs\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":180,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/africa-doesnt-need-more-ports-here-is-what-it-needs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtvcdn.guardian.ng\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c-xqe3.jpg-1.jpeg\",\"keywords\":[\"African Ports\",\"efficiency\",\"Maritime\",\"port\",\"Trade\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Maritime\",\"Top Video\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/africa-doesnt-need-more-ports-here-is-what-it-needs\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/africa-doesnt-need-more-ports-here-is-what-it-needs\\\/\",\"name\":\"Africa doesn't need more ports: Here is what it needs - GuardianTV\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/africa-doesnt-need-more-ports-here-is-what-it-needs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/guardian.ng\\\/tv\\\/africa-doesnt-need-more-ports-here-is-what-it-needs\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/gtvcdn.guardian.ng\\\/2026\\\/06\\\/c-xqe3.jpg-1.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-10-17T17:57:32+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-10-21T10:16:42+00:00\",\"description\":\"Is building more seaports the true solution for Africa's maritime growth? 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