Container shipping capacity between Asia and West Africa has increased by almost 30% over the past year as carriers respond to growing trade volumes, adding pressure on ports and inland logistics networks.
Alphaliner data reported by the Journal of Commerce shows that 185 container ships with combined capacity of around 1.4 million TEUs were deployed on the trade as of July 1.
This was almost 30% higher than in July 2025, following growth of around 40% between July 2024 and July 2025.
There were few trades globally where deployed container capacity had almost doubled within two years, Stefan Verberckmoes, senior analyst at Alphaliner, said.
The increase forms part of a broader shift in container capacity towards Africa. Alphaliner's fleet analysis for the year to May showed capacity deployed on African services had increased 25.3% year on year, compared with growth of 5.7% in the global container fleet.
Rising trade between Asia and Africa is driving much of the expansion, with shipping lines adding services and deploying larger vessels to accommodate demand.
Freight forwarders are also reporting strong growth. Sascha Geiken, vice president of ocean freight for the Middle East and Africa at DHL Global Forwarding, told the Journal of Commerce that China-Africa was one of the company's fastest-growing trades, with strong growth also being recorded in airfreight.
However, rising volumes are increasing pressure on ports and the road and rail networks connecting them with inland markets.
Shipping lines have responded by expanding their African networks. Maersk strengthened its Asia-West Africa network in the second quarter of this year, adding a service connecting Asian ports with Tema, Abidjan, Lekki, Kribi and Pointe Noire.
