Skip to content 
28 October 2025 – There’s a myth in African logistics that port congestion is primarily a berth problem. Ships anchor at the port limits, and the finger-pointing begins. However, terminal operations experience across the continent reveals a far more subtle and costly reality. The visible delays at the quayside are symptoms. The actual challenge lies in how ports are designed, operated and integrated into the broader supply chain ecosystem.
The Real Bottleneck
Consider what happens when a container ship arrives at a busy African port. The berth might be available. The cranes might be functioning. Yet the container spends four, five and sometimes six extra days moving through the terminal.
Why? Because the real bottleneck isn’t vessel reception; it’s the co-ordination between that berth, the storage capacity, the yard management system and the outbound transport infrastructure.
Most operators measure terminal performance metrics: referring to containers, ship working hours, ship turnaround times, on-time berthing of the vessel, gross crane hours, truck turnaround times and container dwell times all play a part. A terminal can move cargo quickly and still create chaos downstream. Poor yard planning means containers pile up in the wrong container stacks. Inadequate storage capacity forces suboptimal stacking. Unreliable handoff procedures delay truckers and rail operators waiting outside the gate. Each friction point adds costs: to the port operator and, exponentially, to every shipper in the system and the economy.
This reality can play out at any port: a major shipping line frustrated with turnaround times threatens to divert to another port. The port’s management blames congestion. Investigations could reveal something different: a terminal’s operating system isn’t integrated with its yard management software. Container locations are being logged manually, and truckers arriving to collect containers often have to wait hours while staff manually search the yard.
The shipping line isn’t suffering from berth delays but from operational invisibility. The costs to this shipper could run into hundreds of thousands of dollars annually in extended demurrage, storage and haulage fees. Modern port operations demand more than throughput; they demand systems thinking. Integration, visibility and predictability matter.
Practical Solutions: Integration In Action
At Africa Global Logistics (AGL), this philosophy is being translated into concrete operations across Africa’s port infrastructure. When AGL assumed operations at A-Berth, Duncan Docks in Cape Town earlier this year, it had the opportunity to demonstrate what integrated terminal management looks like in practice. Working alongside Transnet National Ports Authority, FPT Group, and AGL with partner BALSA implemented a model prioritising operational co-ordination and system reliability.
Rather than viewing each function as discrete, operations were designed around the entire journey: from vessel arrival through to container collection. NAVIS Terminal Operating Systems (TOS) create real-time visibility across all operations. Modern handling equipment moves cargo faster and more reliably and predictably, resulting in improved cargo-handling efficiency, reduced turnaround times and a seamless, modernised experience for port users.
TOS gives customers full visibility of operations along the import and export value chains. Business partners have web-based access for pre-advice of containers to TOS to ensure efficient operations. This approach extends across AGL’s port concession portfolio. Perhaps most significantly, AGL is pioneering green terminal operations that integrate environmental sustainability into operational excellence. Sustainable terminal design – optimised energy consumption, reduced emissions and waste minimisation – improves efficiency. Greener operations are leaner operations, requiring better systems integration, smarter work ow design and closer co-ordination with customers.
The Path Forward
Many African ports still operate in silos. Maritime operations, storage and outbound logistics are managed as separate functions rather than integrated processes. This is expensive: a shipper importing goods through an inefficient port doesn’t just pay higher port charges; they carry additional inventory buffer to compensate for unpredictable delivery windows, maintain larger storage facilities and employ more staff to manage uncertainty. These hidden costs often dwarf the port fees.
The path forward requires a fundamental reframing. Performance metrics should encompass the entire value chain: predictability, system integration, real-time visibility and total cost of ownership, not just tonnes moved. The continent’s economic transformation depends on supply chains that move cargo reliably, predictably, sustainably and affordably. Port infrastructure design, operation and integration into the broader logistics ecosystem need a rethink. Source: Business Day Move Magazine