Sub-Saharan Africa and Maritime

There has been a lot of recent research on regional maritime transport in Africa. This interest has been prompted by the significance of freight transportation as a stimulator of economic growth, a facilitator of commerce, and a propellant of social and economic advancement. Great aspirations for intra-regional trade and integration exist on the African continent. Over 1000 gross tonne ships made about 89,000 port calls in African ports in 2021, with 43,000 of those calls occurring in sub-Saharan Africa (UNCTAD, 2022). (SSA). Only 1% of the 4.3 million port visits made worldwide in 2021 (UNCTAD, 2022) were made in the SSA, but 55% of those calls were made by passenger ships, which commonly travel short, busy routes that serve as bridge replacements.

The 2050 Africa's Integrated Maritime Strategy (2050 AIMS) outlines the coordinated and coherent long-term, multi-layered plans of action anticipated to improve maritime viability in Africa and sets goals and strategies for member states to significantly increase Africa's share of global ship ownership by gross tonnage to at least 7% by 2050, up from 1.2 % (of deadweight tonnes) in 2021. (UNCTAD, 2022). These goals are motivated in part by the upcoming development of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which is anticipated to grow to be one of the largest free trade agreements in the world with a market of around USD 2.5 trillion (International Monetary Fund, 2020).

Techno-economic evaluations were undertaken before and after the AfCFTA's adoption to understand the continent's trade requirements, particularly in terms of supply and demand. The AfCFTA was projected to increase trade within Africa by 52% over the course of the first four years, increase GDP growth by 80% through small and medium-sized businesses, and generate up to 49% more employment. Most African nations will benefit from the AfCFTA by having their trade barriers removed, which will raise their total revenue and standard of living. Due in significant part to the AfCFTA's projection of more moderate development, intra-African commerce is anticipated to increase by more than 80% by 2030.

A limited amount of attention has been paid to case studies of active marine transport operations, despite the fact that the development of maritime supply chains has been thoroughly studied on a global scale and in particular regions of Africa. Given the size of the continent, anticipated freight volumes, and current customs and trade policies, it has been determined that the development of integrated intermodal short-sea shipping (SSS) connecting the major ports of the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC) has enormous potential for maritime transport in Africa. Such a system, nevertheless, will need extra strategic, policy, and infrastructural support.

Even though maritime transportation can help connect remote and peripheral regions without requiring significant infrastructure investments, it has become a major concern to integrate it into intermodal transport chains. This is because maritime transportation is safer, more energy-efficient, and less harmful to the environment than road transportation. The potential of marine transport on the continent is not being fully used, despite the fact that such qualities fit well with Africa's existing transportation requirements.