Just four African ports made it onto the 2025 Lloyds List Top 100 Container Ports. Highest ranking is Tanger Med in Morocco at 17th globally, followed by Port Said, Egypt at 53rd, Alexandria, Egypt at 90th and Lom in Togo at 92nd. No South African ports are in the top 100 list. According to Linton Nightingale, deputy editor, Lloyds List, the ranking is based on 2024 2025 container throughput and the World Banks Container Port Performance Index CPPI. Tanger Med in Morocco handled 10.2 million TEUs the first on the continent to handle over 10m TEUs in a year. It is ranked fifth in the CPPI and is operated by the state-owned Tanger Med Port Authority TMPA. Its strengths are listed as deep-water berths 18m and good road and rail links with the hinterland. Port Said handled less than half the volume 3.9m TEUs. It has been affected by the Red Sea security issues and has limited rail connectivity. Despite the challenges, it ranks higher than Tanger Med on the CPPI, at third globally. It is managed by the parastatal Port Said Port Authority PSPA, with the container terminals in the hands of private operators. Alexandria handled 2.2m TEUs in the review period, reinforcing its role as a top Eastern Mediterranean transit hub. It reported significant growth in container traffic and vessel calls in 2025, according to the ports annual performance review. However, it ranked only 247th on the CPPI. Overall management is in the hands of the parastatal Alexandria Port Authority, with private operators responsible for the container terminals. The Port of Lom 2.2m TEUs is described as a growing transhipment hub in West Africa, with challenges including limited hinterland rail and regional instability. Although Durban handled 4.5m TEUs more than Said, Alexandria and Lom, it did not make the global ranking due to chronic congestion, long vessel waiting times, low productivity in CPPI, labour issues and limited rail connectivity. In 2025, the World Bank ranked Durban last out of 403 ports globally. Cape Town was ranked 400th, Port Elizabeth 395th and Ngqura 402nd. The top sub-Saharan port on the CPPI index is Dakar, Senegal, ranked 108th globally after a dramatic improvement from 2023. Its CPPI rank rose from 82 in 2023 to 23 in 2024, while the number of port calls also increased. Operated by DP World since 2008, it has undergone significant investment, including new cranes, expansion of its yards, the development of a port community system, the upgrading of road and rail links, and a single window customs system, according to the CPPI report. Liner shipping connectivity has increased, with Dakar now receiving direct services from Asia. Next in Africa on the CPPI is Mogadishu, Somalia, at 163rd. The CPPI, released by the World Bank and S P Global Market Intelligence in September 2025, ranked Mogadishu as the most efficient port in East Africa, ahead of Mombasa, Dar es Salaam and Djibouti. A new container terminal, which opened in August 2025, increased annual capacity from 150 000 to 250 000 TEUs, according to Mohamed Ali Nur, director general of the Port of Mogadishu. Regionally, the CPPI rankings are Luanda 384th, Walvis Bay 376th, Maputo 347th, Beira 292nd, Nacala 368th, Dar es Salaam 360th and Mombasa 375th. ER
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