Commentary

By Lars Jensen

The most common misunderstanding is that Africa is seen as one large entity.

Six weeks into my“ Syncro Sally” voyage to explore container logistics in 41 different African countries in 2026-27, I’ ve taken a ferry across the Strait of Gibraltar to Morrocco and crossed the Sahara Desert in Mauritania. Multiple learnings— and a few surprises— have already presented themselves along the way.

But before delving into the surprises, let’ s set a baseline of expectations prior to arriving in Africa. The most common misunderstanding I run across is that“ Africa” is seen as one large entity. This is most certainly not the case; there are 54 different countries which are all wildly different in terms of culture and business.

Morocco surprised me positively in terms of how far it has progressed as a manufacturing location. It has multiple well-functioning free-trade zones, where parts and components can be imported without duties, then used to manufacture new goods for re-export, still without duties. It is especially strong in automotive and aerospace.

Although Morocco is home to the world’ s 17th-largest container terminal in Tangiers, Casablanca is the main gateway port, with smaller volumes coming through Agadir. A brand new terminal has just opened in Nador on the Mediterranean coast that will provide added capacity, and competition, to Tangiers and Algeciras for transshipment cargo. A new port is also under construction in the south of Morocco in Dhakla.

For companies looking to manufacture and / or source from Morocco, there is ample access to global shipping services. Furthermore, the long-distance road network is mostly in great shape, with new dual-carriage highways connecting the major cities across the country and more being built as the country prepares to co-host the FIFA World Cup in 2030. Trucking services from Morocco can essentially reach anywhere in Spain or Portugal inside of 24 hours and France inside of 48 hours.

For importers in Europe, and to some degree on the US East Coast, Morocco clearly offers opportunities to diversify some of their supply chains to reduce dependency on whichever trouble might impact the Suez Canal, Strait of Hormuz, Panama Canal, Taiwan Strait or South China Sea.

For me, the main surprise was how well-developed all this infrastructure already is. Clearly much more can— and will— be done, but the opportunities are already there.

Mauritania, the world’ s ninth-least populated country at only five people per square kilometer, is very different from Morocco. There is a lot of emptiness across the Sahara Desert, which dominates most of the country except for the very southern part as you get into the Sahel area and approach the Senegal River.

Although this means Mauritania does not lend itself to manufacturing the way Morocco does, it is blessed with other opportunities: raw materials, vast open space and sunlight.

Several mining operations are already ongoing in Mauritania. Iron ore has been shipped out from the port of Nouadhibou since the 1950s using a dedicated 700-km rail line into the mines deep in the Sahara.

But today there are also mines producing gold, copper, quartz and other minerals. Prospects for more raw materials and rare earth minerals are being explored as well, all of which could significantly increase exports.

In addition, a new road is being built through an empty stretch of the Sahara Desert that will, for the first time, link Mauritania directly to southern Algeria. This opens more opportunities for mining operations in Algeria being supported via Mauritania and access to the Atlantic Ocean instead of northward toward the Mediterranean coast.

The greatest surprise I came across in Mauritania was its green energy projects. As there is ample space, sunlight and wind, there is the potential to build massive solar and wind parks, and then turn the energy into green fuels to be exported. There is just early-stage planning for these projects, but it is clearly a potential great opportunity for Mauritania.

The container terminal in the capital Nouakchott also surprised me in how modern it is. The terminal is equipped with two ship-to-shore cranes and modern yard equipment, including seven fully electric trucks that will be put into service shortly.

It has its own in-house training for equipment operators, including crane and rubber-tire gantry crane drivers, using an on-site state-of-the-art simulator, all manned by local employees. They are in the process of increasing terminal capacity by gradually phasing in more yard equipment.

Because the port is not protected, however, it cannot be used for roughly 50 days in the winter. Authorities are looking at plans to construct a breakwater, and such a project should be prioritized to ensure year-round operations.

Jensen’ s journey is sponsored by several logistics companies, including Hapag-Lloyd and DSV.

email: lars. jensen @ vespucci-maritime. com

52 Journal of Commerce | November 2, 2026 www. joc. com