West African Port Infrastructure Faced Congestion
Growing vessel sizes and trade volumes have overwhelmed terminal capacities across several key West African logistics hubs.
Updated on Oct. 13, 2026 in Transportation
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Infrastructure strain has caused significant bottlenecks at ports across West Africa as regional container throughput grew 19.4% year-on-year in 2025. This surge has outpaced the ability of local terminals to process cargo, leading to increased wait times and high occupancy rates.
Why it matters
A persistent mismatch between rapidly expanding vessel capacity and supporting landside transport infrastructure has limited the efficiency of regional supply chains. Ports are struggling to process larger volumes of cargo due to bottlenecks like truck shortages and customs delays.
Regional container throughput rose 19.4% year-on-year in 2025, while the Douala port reached 102% utilization. DP World has also committed $1.2 billion toward the upcoming Ndayane deepwater port project to add 1.2 million teu in annual capacity.
The players
MSC
MSC is a global shipping and logistics company that operates the Africa Express service.
DP World
DP World is a multinational logistics company specializing in cargo logistics and port terminal operations.
The details
Logistics systems are under pressure as ships like the 24,000 teu vessels introduced by MSC on the Africa Express route in April 2026 demand greater terminal speed. Issues such as slow container evacuation, high yard occupancy, and off-dock storage limitations are creating significant delays, including six-day congestion at Tema.
Timeline
Dakar terminal throughput grew from 265,000 teu in 2008 to 850,000 teu in 2025.
MSC introduced 24,000 teu vessels on the Africa Express service in April 2026.
Tema port experienced four to seven days of congestion during summer 2026.
Abidjan average vessel wait times reached 2.2 days in August 2026.
Market Landscape
This bottleneck reflects the broader industry-wide trend of ultra-large container vessel deployment that is testing terminal limits worldwide. Infrastructure investments are increasingly forced to prioritize deepwater capabilities to remain competitive against larger, more efficient regional terminals.
Supply chain bottlenecks at these hubs can lead to localized delivery delays and increased costs for imported goods across the region. Consumers and businesses may face longer wait times for shipments as ports work to clear their current backlogs and yard occupancy.
The takeaway
Reliable logistics depend on ensuring that landside processing speeds keep pace with the massive scale of modern maritime shipping. Stakeholders must address bottlenecks such as truck shortages and off-dock storage limitations to prevent recurring port congestion.
Further reading
Read more about global logistics and infrastructure developments in our Transportation section.
Source note: This article includes information reported by The Loadstar.
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