To boost intra-Africa trade on the continent, African ports need to focus their strategies on exports. This calls for an “effective and standardised government regulatory climate” on the continent, according to Nigerian maritime experts.
Speaking at the first International Sea Trade and Investment Convention held in Lagos, Nigeria earlier this month, industry experts – who included the executive secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Hassan Bello, and the director general of the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping (NCS), Ifeanyinwa Anazonwu-Akerele – pointed out that the design and location of the current port infrastructure in Africa did not allow room for export trade.
According to media reports, citing a communique issued by participants at the end of the convention, a lack of governmental policy cohesion was one of the biggest obstacles to this much-needed change of strategy.
This could be overcome by introducing more direct trade routes amongst African countries, added investment in port related infrastructure, such as the concessioning of port railway systems, and by advocating for standardised export tariffs – all of which should be driven by the respective African governments.
