Many African ports lack container gantry cranes and continue to rely on ships’ gear for loading and unloading. Even when such cranes are available, the number of container moves per crane hour is usually between 10 and 20, compared with between 25 and 30 in leading world ports. Where ships’ gear is relied on, the performance is even worse, with only 7 to 10 moves per hour.
TThe quality of landside container handling is indicated by the cycle times of trucks dropping off and picking up containers at the terminal and the average time spent in a terminal (“dwell time”). The typical target for an efficient truck cycle is one hour. Average cycle times in Africa range from 4–24 hours across different regions (see table). Average container dwell times are 6–15 days in Africa, whereas the accepted international standard is no more than 7 days.
Port charges for both containers and general cargo are substantially higher in Africa than in other world regions. For container handling, the charges applied in Sub-Saharan Africa can be more than twice those typically applied for the same service in other parts of the world—nearly everywhere else, they are at least 50 percent more.
Average port delays, by region