Container operation at Tin Can Island Port

The Tin Can Island Port Complex, located in Apapa, Lagos, Nigeria’s second largest cargo seaport has been ranked among the best performing seaports in West and Central Africa, ahead of Ports of Duoala (Cameroon), Cotonou (Benin Republic), Lome (Togo), Tema (Ghana) and Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire), according to the latest global Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) launched recently by the World Bank.

The 2021 performance ranking, based on the time vessels spend in the port to complete their workloads, covered 370 ports that recorded at least 20 valid port calls within the period under study. The assessment was conducted by a joint team from the Transport Global Practice of the Infrastructure Vice-Presidency at the World Bank and the Maritime, Trade and Supply Chain Division of S&P Global Market Intelligence.

The Port of Conakry (Guinea) is the highest ranked in West Africa, followed by Freetown (Sierra Leone), Takoradi (Ghana), Dakar (Senegal), San Pedro (Cote d’Ivoire), Tin-Can Island (Nigeria), Douala (Cameroon), Onne (Nigeria), Cotonou (Benin), Lome (Togo), Tema (Ghana), Kribi Deep Seaport (Cameroon), Lagos/Apapa (Nigeria) and Abidjan (Cote d’Ivoire). Port of Luanda (Angola) is the least ranked in the region.   

The two top ranked container ports globally are King Abdullah Port (Saudi Arabia) in the first place, followed by Port of Salalah (Oman) in second place. The Moroccan port of Tanger-Med, ranked at 6, is the highest in Europe and North Africa. Cartagena Port in Colombia at 12 ranks highest in Latin America and the Caribbean region, while the highest ranked port In sub-Saharan Africa is Port Matadi, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The US Port of Virginia is the top ranked port in North America.

The CPPI report, according the sponsors, serves as a reference point of improvement for key stakeholders, including national governments, port authorities and operators, development agencies, supranational organizations, various maritime interests, as well as other public and private stakeholders in trade, logistics, and supply chain services. It is not intended to cover the entire performance of a port, but to illustrate opportunities for improvement and, hopefully, stimulate dialogues among key stakeholders to move this essential agenda forward.

The study assessors applied two different methodological approaches – an administrative or technical approach, reflecting expert knowledge and judgment; and a statistical approach using factor analysis. The rationale for using the two approaches (as applied in last year edition) was to try and ensure that the ranking of container port performance reflects as closely as possible actual port performance, whilst also being statistically robust.

Due to the disruption of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global supply chain, some of the leading global ports in Europe, Asia and North America fell in the lower rankings. Last year’s most efficient port – Yokohama in Japan, dropped to the 10th place overall and Qingdao in China, which was third in 2020 dropped to 42 in the latest ranking. In Africa, some of the frontline ports including Durban and Cape Town were ranked among the least efficient at 364 and 365 respectively.