10 of Africa’s largest deep sea ports

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At a Glance

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• Investments and automation are transforming Africa’s busiest ports into high-capacity logistics hubs.
• Expanded terminals and new corridors are boosting container flows across key maritime routes.
• Public-private projects are driving efficiency, scale and regional competitiveness in African ports.

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Africa’s deep-sea ports are moving from bottlenecks to strategic growth engines. 

A mix of public-private projects, capacity expansions and shifting maritime routes has accelerated container and bulk flows across the continent, from transshipment at the Strait of Gibraltar to gateway traffic through the Suez and Indian Ocean corridors. 

Tanger Med’s automation and scale have made it a Europe-Africa bridge, while Durban and newer greenfield projects in Lagos and Mombasa are absorbing diverted trade and larger vessels. 

These hubs now underpin industrial corridors, commodity exports and regional integration, even as hinterland connectivity and port efficiency remain constraints. 

Policymakers and investors are chasing yield in dredging, rail links and terminal concessions to capture a projected rise in African seaborne trade, a race that will shape the continent’s logistics footprint for the next decade.

Shore Africa profiles 10 of Africa’s largest deep-sea ports, aiding the continent’s logistics.

1. Port of Durban (South Africa)
Durban is Africa’s busiest by cargo tonnage and a core export gateway for minerals and agricultural bulk. Its container terminals handle millions of TEUs annually; ongoing terminal upgrades aim to ease congestion and speed hinterland rail lifts to the interior.

2. Port of Mombasa (Kenya)
Mombasa links East Africa to global liner services and inland Kenya, Uganda and South Sudan via road and rail. Recent throughput milestones pushed annual TEUs past the two-million mark as the port invests in yard capacity and digital clearances.

3. Port of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania)
Dar serves Tanzania’s industrial belt and the Central African hinterland. Container capacity expansions and private terminal concessions aim to raise efficiency for mineral and agricultural exports despite regional competition from alternative corridors.

4. Port of Lagos / Lekki complex (Nigeria)
Lagos remains West Africa’s dominant trade hub; the new Lekki deep-sea terminal and planned hinterland logistics parks are designed to relieve chronic congestion and scale annual container throughput for Nigeria’s booming imports and exports.

5. Port of Djibouti (Djibouti)
Djibouti anchors Horn of Africa trade with multimodal links into Ethiopia. Its deep-water terminals and expanding container capacity make it a critical trans-shipment and regional logistics platform for landlocked neighbours.

6. Port of Cape Town (South Africa)
Cape Town is a major Cape-route hub, combining container and multi-cargo terminals. Phased terminal upgrades plan to push installed TEU capacity higher, improving South Africa’s western corridor handling and cold-chain capabilities.

7. Port of Alexandria (Egypt)
Alexandria serves Mediterranean trade and Egypt’s domestic market; its blended role of trans-shipment and export hub benefits the Suez-adjacent trade lanes and internal distribution via rail and road to Upper Egypt.

8. Port of Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
Abidjan has expanded container terminals and is investing in inland logistics hubs to serve landlocked Sahel markets. New terminal capacity has lifted its competitiveness and regional throughput projections.

9. Port of Tema (Ghana)
Tema handles Ghana’s containerised trade and is integrating inland depots and rail upgrades to speed exports (notably cocoa and manufactured goods) to the coast, while private investment targets yard expansion

10. Port of Beira (Mozambique)
Beira is pivotal for central Mozambican exports and corridor traffic from Malawi and Zimbabwe. Investments focus on dredging, terminal modernisation and rail links to stabilise throughput for bulk and container flows.