RABAT – Africa’s leader in maritime connectivity, Morocco has exposed the flaws in the continent’s maritime transport and proposed improvements to help support the transformation and restructuring of the African economy.
In a publication titled “Maritime Transport of Goods in the Atlantic Facade of Africa.” Morocco’s Department of Economic Studies and Financial Forecast (DEPF) the report emphasizes the role that maritime transport could play in connecting Africa to the world by integrating it into global value chains.
While maritime transport represents 80% of trade around the world, the African continent only contributes 5.7% to global maritime traffic.
The report considers Africa’s share in maritime transport disproportionate to the continent’s coastline. Africa’s shores include three maritime facades — the Atlantic, Indian, and Mediterranean — connecting 38 countries, more than 70% of African states.
The study offered an overview of maritime transport on the Atlantic coast of West Africa, splitting it into three groups.
One is Morocco and Nigeria, which stands out in terms of maritime traffic on Africa’s Atlantic facade. The two countries contributed a total of 64% of regional traffic between 2011 and 2016.
The second group contributed 29% of West African traffic between 2011 and 2015. It includes Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Senegal, Togo and Benin.
The third group includes Liberia, Guinea, Mauritania, Gambia, Sierra Leone, and Guinea Bissau, with a total contribution of 7% between 2011 and 2015.
The study also offered a few possible solutions, calling to reinforce port and maritime cooperation, in part through the digitization of ports to enhance the quality of their work. It would also involve advancing efficient traffic management through the establishment of port clusters to boost competition.
The publication also suggested a mutual charter through which countries can share ships to decrease the cost of maritime traffic, in addition to multimodal connectivity for ports to play a role in the development of national and regional economies. Source: Africa6News
