Logistics observations

This is the traffic situation around the dry port in Kati north of the capital Bamako. Trucks take all the space on the road, and other traffic finds its way around the road Mali became the 5th African country on the Syncro Sally Voyage. It clearly lives up to the old saying in shipping and logistics: “Freight finds a way”. Conditions for the economy and people living in the country are not easy and moving cargo to and from the country is not something which can run like cloc

Cargo getting loaded in Ouagadougou with destination in Niger's capital Niamey Burkina Faso is one of the world’s poorest countries when seen as GDP per capita. However, it is also a country of 25 million people growing by roughly another half million people each year presently. By 2050 they are estimated to have a population of 37 million. The level of popuplation growth also means growth in cargo volumes. Sure, if people – on average – do not have much to spend, then there

Emil Lund Petersen and Tim Smith from my sponsor DSV enjoying a trip in Sally from the port in Nouakchott Mauritania is one of the world’s least populated countries. At a density of just 5 people per square kilometre there are only 9 other countries in the world with a lower population density. Not only is the population density low, but the population itself is also below 6 million people. Add to this a GDP per capita ranking amongst the world’s 50 poorest nations, and this

Starting at the border in the north with Ceuta, the journey took 4000 km through Morocco to the border with Mauretania in the middle of the Sahara Desert Having spent nearly a month in Morocco, almost 4000km on the road and meeting a range of inspiring people, I can safely say this is a great country of significant opportunity. The opportunities are for shippers, logistics providers, shipping lines and terminals alike. But what leads me to this conclusion? Let us start with s

It is now day 11 of the voyage and I have entered France after visiting Germany, Netherlands and Belgium. The image is taken as I was approaching Antwerp port. In total these 4 countries are importing and exporting a total of 1.2 million TEU related to countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) seen over the past 12 months. That equals more than 3300 TEU every day of the year. But the 4 countries clearly have very different relations with the SSA nations. For the combined imports,

In 2025 the Sub-Saharan region of Africa imported 9.7 million TEU of containerized cargo. By 2050 this could increase to more than 32 million TEU. There are two elements underlying this forward projection. The first one is demographics. The African population is projected to grow from 1.5 Billion now to 2.5 Billion people in 2050. This means one additional billion people who will need food, housing, clothes, furniture etc. Furthermore they will need jobs in growing industries