ABIDJAN PORT SHOWCASES STRATEGIES FOR MORE EFFICIENT HINTERLAND CONNECTIVITY

Activités portuaires Thursday 09 January 2025

The 44th Annual Council of the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA) took place from November 18 to 21, 2024, in Conakry, the capital of Guinea. This year’s event, themed “Optimizing Hinterland Connectivity: Challenges of Connectivity, Fluidity, and Reliability,” is paired with the 19th Round Table of Managing Directors of PMAWCA member ports.

After the opening ceremony on Monday, November 18, 2024, the sessions on Tuesday, November 19, were dedicated to the Managing Directors’ Round Table, featuring several panels with port leaders, maritime sector experts, and economic operators from hinterland countries like Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.

The discussions emphasized the urgency of strengthening logistical corridors and ensuring better integration between ports and their hinterlands.

The Managing Directors proposed several recommendations to optimize hinterland connectivity:

• National port reforms: Countries in West and Central Africa should adopt tailored reforms to improve port efficiency.
• Regional integration reforms: A sub-regional port harmonization is necessary to fully capitalize on the opportunities of shared hinterlands.
• Political commitment: Strengthened inter-port cooperation backed by clear political commitments is vital to maximizing synergies.
• Global Strategic studies: PMAWCA should conduct in-depth analyses to develop an integrated hinterland connectivity strategy.

Representing Mr. Hien Yacouba SIÉ, the Managing Director of Abidjan Port Authority, Mr. N’DOLI Kouadio André, Director of Engineering and Project Management, co-hosted a panel alongside representatives from ports such as Lomé, Ghana, Conakry, Dakar, Cotonou, Le Havre, and Antwerp. The panel addressed the theme: “Between Cooperation and Competition: Strategic and Operational Complementarities Among Port Authorities Sharing Hinterlands.”

Mr. N’DOLI highlighted that, with significant investments exceeding 1,000 billion CFA francs in port infrastructure, Abidjan Port really has to provide robust hinterland connectivity through the opening of the railway line in need to be rehabilitated with the support of African Development Bank (ADB).  

Continuing his presentation, Mr. N'DOLI highlighted the government’s infrastructure projects and those of the port authorities aimed at improving hinterland connectivity. These include bypass routes linking the PK 24 corridor, where a logistics platform is planned to be developed.

In conclusion, Mr. N'DOLI emphasized that cooperation between port authorities within shared zones of influence is essential to enhance port competitiveness, reduce logistical costs, and improve regional trade flow efficiency.

In short, the discussions during the 19th Managing Directors’ Round Table provided an excellent opportunity to analyze key levers that could further strengthen trade exchanges between West and Central African ports and their shared hinterlands.