Transportation Network Upgrades in Africa

Africa’s transportation infrastructure is undergoing significant transformation to address longstanding challenges such as inadequate road and rail networks, port inefficiencies, and high logistics costs.

Some of these projects are critical to the future growth and development of economies in Africa and specifically to sectors such as mining and agriculture that often are greatly impacted by a lack of infrastructure, or lack of maintenance to things such as rail and roads, and ports. These ultimately impact the cost of producing the products, and if this can be done at an affordable rate to still be appealing to global markets.

These upgrades are critical to boosting intra-African trade, reducing poverty, and enhancing economic competitiveness, particularly under initiatives like the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). Below is a comprehensive overview of key projects, their timelines, and their anticipated impact on the logistics industry.

 Trans-African Highway Network

The Trans-African Highway Network, a mega-infrastructure project was initiated over 40 years ago by the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), the African Development Bank (AfDB), and the African Union, aims to connect African nations through nine highways spanning approximately 56,683 km.

The network will reduce transport costs, which currently account for 30–40% of commodity prices in Africa (and up to 60% in landlocked countries), by providing direct, paved routes.

The network is designed to link major cities across the continent, facilitating trade and movement from north to south and east to west. A notable completed section is the 4,400 km Trans-Sahelian Highway, connecting Dakar, Senegal, to Ndjamena, Chad, through seven countries.

The Trans-Sahara Highway (Algiers-Lagos, 4,500 km) is 85% complete, creating a corridor to facilitate trade between North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, connecting countries like Nigeria, Algeria, and Niger

Expected Completion: The Trans-Sahara Highway is expected to be fully completed in 2025

Lobito Atlantic Railway (Angola)

 Angola’s largest railway project, the Lobito Atlantic Railway, aims to connect the port of Lobito to rail lines in neighboring inland countries, including the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.

The project has been funded by the US, the European Commission, and the African Development Bank,  and is the largest US investment in African rail infrastructure to date.

The rail line will support the transport of critical minerals as well as agricultural goods, enhancing food security and enabling Angola to become a food exporter

Construction began in 2024, with completion expected in the late 2020s, though specific timelines depend on project execution.

The project stands to benefit agricultural Logistics, connecting agricultural lands to markets, reducing transport costs for perishable goods and improving food supply chains.

The other big contribution the project will make is in the junior mining sector where these miners are fully reliant on being able to get there products to port as most are set for the global markets.

Reduced Congestion:

An additional benefit of this project, is the reduction in road congestion and wear, thereby reducing maintenance costs. The shifting of heavy freight from road to rail is highly desirable and much more cost-effective, making more profits for producers and reducing purchase prices for buyers, with the added benefit of alleviating pressure on road networks and improving logistics efficiencies.

South Africa Rail and Port Upgrades

South Africa, with the continent’s most extensive but somewhat neglected rail infrastructure, is addressing current inefficiencies through Transnet’s recovery plan under the National Rail Policy and Freight Logistics Roadmap.

This plan includes introducing third-party access to rail and port infrastructure developments to increase private-sector involvement.

The congestion in the South African Ports has created massive issues for sectors such as Mining and Agriculture, as well as equipment imports.

Specific projects include:

Sishen-Saldanha Bay Ore Line and Richards Bay Coal Line, where upgrades to these critical freight lines aim to improve capacity and efficiency anticipated to be completed in 2027.

Richards Bay LNG Import Terminal a R2.1 (ZAR) billion project, awarded to Vopak in January 2024, to  enable the import 1–5 million tons of LNG annually.

Project Ukuvuselela, a transnational rail corridor for automotive cargo, upgrading the Gauteng-Eastern Cape line to reduce pressure on the KwaZulu-Natal corridor, and also expected to be completed in 2027.

Nigeria’s Lekki Deep-Sea Port

This is a $1.2 billion deep-sea port in Lagos, currently being developed in partnership with Singapore-based Tolaram, China Harbour Engineering, and French logistics giant CMA CGM.

The port aims to double the capacity of Nigeria’s existing ports, addressing maritime congestion where cargo ships can currently wait up to a month to unload. The port is nearing completion and expected to be fully operational this year

The project will double port capacity and will result in vastly decreased waiting times, speeding up import and export processes and improving cost efficiencies, likely to improve trade prospects for the country.

Other Regional Projects

Kenya’s Mombasa-Malaba Rail Link is a $5 billion project in cooperation with China to extend a 952 km rail link from Mombasa to Malaba, with plans to connect to Rwanda, Uganda, and Tanzania. Expected completion by 2025–2026

Tanzania’s Infrastructure Investments, where the AfDB has committed $2.5 billion for road and rail projects, with phased completions through 2027.

While these developments are welcome, there is still massive scope for greater cooperation between African States to look at how to develop and expand their transport infrastructure. This has become all the more critical with global interruptions in the supply chain, and where Africa stands to gain much by improving its transport networks and reducing costs and building capacity for growth.