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IN
this report, Port Overview Africa, long-time
observer of world shipping Victor Shih,
now editor of PortOverview.com and analyst
Kasper Hansen of Sea Intel Maritime Analysis,
undertook a technical tour of the continent's
ports and their progress.
They
report overall improvement in average reliability
on both Europe and Asian services into African
ports. Average on-time arrival within +/-
1 day of schedule is up from 64 per cent
to 73 per cent for Asia-Africa (based on
1,840 arrivals) and 46 per cent to 60 per
cent for Europe-Africa (based on 1,846 arrivals).
As
for African exports - reliability is normally
quite high comparatively for the Africa-Asia
route - the figure remains down by just
three per cent at 77 per cent versus the
first half of the year figure of 80 per
cent (based on 3,567 arrivals).
However,
the Africa-Europe trade has experienced
a massive 22 per cent jump in reliability
from 50 per cent to 72 per cent on routes
from South and West Africa (based on 1,563
arrivals).
The
major reasons behind these improvements
in sea-leg reliability may be related to
slowing volumes in many African ports. The
main causes have been macroeconomic, as
the combination of lower oil and commodity
prices combined with the relative slowdown
of the Chinese and other Asian economies
have begun to bite.
With
the notable exceptions of Morocco, Djibouti
and Kenya, recent updates from a number
of the port authorities point toward a quiet
six months. African economies have in the
past felt the impact of downturns or upswings
in the global economy some months after
main events have taken place.
The
Kenya Ports Authority claim a 10.8 per cent
increase in cargo volumes at Mombasa to
809,984 TEU in the first three quarters
of 2015 compared to 731,300 TEU in 2014.
A
lot of the growth has been seen in the trade
between the Indian subcontinent and the
Horn of Africa/East Africa, with a number
of lines increasing capacity and frequency
of services between the two continents.
Mid-range
Abidjan has experienced periodic congestion
and has only just commenced the expansion
second terminal after a protracted dispute
on the bidding process.
Ghana's
Tema port suffered a series of power cuts
that also affected Accra and the surroundings,
but Meridian Port Services (the JV between
APM Terminals and Bollor-Africa Logistics)
is pressing ahead with its US$3 billion
expansion.
There
have been prolonged protests at the new
terminal at Lome in Togo when the PAL authorities
introduced a security access system to only
a selected number of vetted forwarders and
customs clearance agents, leading to the
entry being blockaded for several days.
In
Nigeria, volumes have been significantly
affected not only by the low oil price,
but also by the diversion of cargo to neighbouring
countries' ports as a result of the continuous
feuding between the various parties vying
for control of the ports around Lagos.
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