A USD2 million grant to support a new African Development Bank (AfDB) initiative to promote Africa’s maritime competitiveness and sustainable development has been approved by the Multilateral Cooperation Center for Development Finance (MCDF) Governing Committee during its meeting in Budapest, Hungary on 14 December.

The grant will seek to facilitate investment in port expansion and boost port performance in Africa by addressing data gaps in port operations, land integration, and port-city interfaces. Expected outputs will include a port data book that provides performance data for Africa’s ports and maritime transport sector as well as practical information on each of the continent’s main ports.

A web-based portal for securely collecting, storing, and retrieving African port data will be developed. The data will help the Regional Ports Management Association, AfDB, individual port authorities, and other development partners and industry stakeholders assess port service and performance.

An African ports index with benchmarking sub-indices that cover key thematic areas in port operations and development planning will also be produced.

The index will contain data on port performance, efficiency, legal and regulatory frameworks, and cargo type and throughput, among others. The purpose is to provide guidance on good project design and coordination.

“The African Development Bank has identified the African Ports Connectivity Portal as a key driver to unlock Africa’s ports and maritime transport development needs into investment opportunities by 2030,” said Marco Yamaguchi, Transport and Logistics Manager at AfDB.

“The portal will bolster connectivity, and deliver low-carbon, climate resilient infrastructure projects which will strengthen regional integration, trade, and employment,” he concluded.