Trade series - Africa Top 60 Ports.
by Steven Randall
Africa - once called The Dark Continent, is a huge continental land mass covering 6% of the entire Earth's surface, and 20% of it's land mass at 30 million sqkm.
Africa contains 1.2 billion people - over 16 % of the earth's population, including over 2000 different languages. Algeria is the largest country by landmass, with Nigeria the largest in terms of population. Following are some photos and information on a few of the largest ports in this amazing continent...
With over a billion people, and the modern facilities of the 21st century making inroads, the nations of Africa represent on of the great trading opportunities for the rest of the world to be a part of.
The largest port in Africa is Richards Bay in South East Africa. This is one of Africa's largest mineral ports, handling over 80 million tons of coal and iron ore a year, along with a large amount of general freight.
Richards Bay has been developed in response to the growing resource industry developed in South Africa, as the world demands more and more basic resources for urban growth.
Saldanha Bay, the new port in South Africa, and home to one of the largest Iron Ore ports on the African continent (below) is the second largest port in terms of tonnage. In 2015 Saldanha Bay moved nearly 72 million tons, made up primarily of iron ore and imported crude oil. Once again, the demands of the 21st century world ate responsible for this large scale development in Africa.
Port Said, home to one of the great fishing fleets of the Mediterranean (shown below) is the third largest freight port in Africa, handling over 45 million tons of goods each year, predominantly in containers. Tourism is also a major income earner in this centre, with architecture and historical records going back millenia.
Tangiers in Northern African nation of Morocco, is one of the legendary cities of the early 20th century in terms of adventure, and later during the Cold war intrigues between the US and Russia.
Over 45 million tons of container and general freight flow through this critical African port each year, and the containerization of freight has had a large positive impact on this region in terms of global trade and exchange of goods.
Cape town, the legendary port for the tall ships for 150 years, is now a major modern trading terminal for the 21st century..
The port handles between 16 and 20 million tons of freight a year, along with providing major marine services to all shipping, and hosting a multitude of cruise ships into Southern Africa.
Port Luanda in Angola, handling nearly a million containers a year, several million tons of general cargo, and Angola's major oil exporting terminal...
These are just a few of the 60 key ports around this great continent, and demonstrate the rapid rate at which the nations of Africa are fast entering the 21 st century.
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