The Port of Abidjan has seen a growing share of its container traffic driven by cargo ultimately destined for landlocked Mali and Burkina Faso, cementing its role as a transshipment hub for the wider Sahel region alongside Tema and Dakar.
Logistics operators say improvements to the Abidjan-Ouagadougou corridor, including reduced waiting times at key border posts, have made the route more competitive for shippers who previously favoured other West African gateways.
Port officials in Abidjan say they are investing in additional off-dock storage capacity to accommodate the transshipment volumes, which behave differently from cargo bound for the domestic Ivorian market and require longer staging times before onward road transport.