By: Julius Konton
Liberia is seeking deeper regional cooperation and technical knowledge-sharing among West African ports as the country intensifies efforts to modernize its maritime infrastructure, improve port efficiency and strengthen its position in regional and international trade.
The call came from National Port Authority (NPA) Managing Director Sekou A. M. Dukuly during a high-level engagement in Côte d’Ivoire on Friday, September 4, 2026, when he paid a courtesy visit to the Director General of the Port of Abidjan, Kassoum Traore.
The meeting focused on port modernization, infrastructure development, operational efficiency and opportunities for institutional cooperation between Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire.
It also comes as countries across West Africa increasingly view efficient ports and integrated transport corridors as critical to reducing trade costs, attracting investment and connecting landlocked and coastal economies to global markets.
Dukuly said Liberia could draw important lessons from Abidjan’s experience in expanding port capacity, upgrading infrastructure and improving operational performance.
He described the scale and pace of development at the Port of Abidjan as particularly instructive for Liberia as the NPA pursues a broader transformation of the country’s port system.
The Port of Abidjan is one of the most strategically important maritime gateways in West Africa and serves as a major commercial link between Côte d’Ivoire, the wider Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) market and international shipping routes.
Its development has been closely associated with Côte d’Ivoire’s emergence as a regional logistics and commercial hub.
For Liberia, the stakes are equally significant.
The country’s maritime sector has historically been central to its economy, with the Port of Monrovia, established during the early development of the Liberian state, serving as the country’s principal gateway for imports, exports and international commerce. Liberia’s location along the Atlantic coast also gives it potential to serve as an important logistics corridor for neighboring markets, particularly within the Mano River Union.
Welcoming Dukuly, Traore highlighted the longstanding relationship between Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire, including diplomatic, commercial and people-to-people ties.
He also emphasized Liberia’s strategic importance within the Mano River region and its historical distinction as Africa’s oldest modern republic, founded in 1847.
Traore said the Port of Abidjan’s growing regional influence has attracted interest from neighboring countries seeking to improve their own maritime and logistics systems, making institutional exchanges such as the NPA delegation an opportunity for practical cooperation and knowledge transfer.
Responding, Dukuly said the NPA’s modernization agenda extends beyond physical infrastructure and must ultimately translate into better services, stronger trade facilitation and measurable economic benefits for Liberians.
“Every milestone in this transformation must be measured by the tangible benefits it delivers to the Liberian people,” Dukuly emphasized.
The NPA Managing Director said the Authority has spent the past year pursuing a broader transformation agenda aimed at developing a port system capable of meeting international standards while supporting Liberia’s economic expansion.
The push comes against a backdrop of growing competition among West African ports.
Major gateways including Abidjan, Tema in Ghana, Lomé in Togo and Dakar in Senegal have invested heavily in container handling, logistics infrastructure, digital systems and expanded cargo capacity as governments seek to capture a larger share of regional and international trade.
The expansion of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) has further increased the importance of efficient ports and transport corridors.
With the agreement designed to create a single African market covering more than 1.4 billion people, improvements in port infrastructure are increasingly viewed as essential to lowering logistics barriers and facilitating the movement of goods across borders.
For Liberia, stronger cooperation with established regional port operators could provide opportunities for technical exchanges in areas ranging from port management and cargo handling to digitalization, safety, customs coordination and infrastructure planning.
The engagement in Abidjan is therefore expected to serve as a foundation for deeper institutional collaboration between the NPA and Côte d’Ivoire’s port authorities, while contributing to Liberia’s longer-term ambition of developing a more efficient, competitive and internationally connected maritime sector.
As West Africa positions itself for increased intra-African trade and global investment, Liberia’s ability to modernize its ports could prove critical not only to the efficiency of its own economy, but also to its aspirations of becoming a more important commercial and logistics gateway along the West African coast.
