Port and Maritime Transport Challenges in West and Central Africa

This Working Paper presents the current
trends in maritime transport and port sectors in West and
Central Africa (WCA), and proposes several policy
recommendations to improve maritime transport and port
efficiency in order to enhance economic growth. West and
Central African economies, which depend on maritime
transport for an overwhelming proportion of their trade,
rely on efficient maritime transport and port sectors to be
competitive on world markets. This paper was prepared for
the Sub-Saharan Africa Transport Policy Program (SSATP), in
the overall context of the World Bank's efforts for
trade facilitation in Sub- Saharan Africa2 as a follow-up to
the 1997 Second Cotonou meeting of West and Central Africa
(WCA) Ministers.