Inefficiency in most African seaports is to blame for the lacklustre economic performance of such countries.

Industrialisation and Enterprise Development Cabinet Secretary Adan Mohamed cited capacity constraints, undeveloped skills and security concerns as some of the impediments to development.

“Social and economic implications of epidemics such as HIV/Aids, Ebola, unstable political systems and technology are setbacks in the continent,” he said.

Mr Mohamed was speaking on Monday at the opening of the 10th Pan African Ports Cooperation meeting in Kwale County.

He called for an integrated approach in planning and execution of port and other infrastructural developments to spur not only economic but also social growth.

To address Africa’s maritime challenges, Mr Mohamed said, inter-agency collaboration at national levels as well as enhanced cross-border and sub-regional cooperation could lead to sustainable development and competitiveness.

“The cost of doing business in Africa is directly determined by the state of infrastructure. Transport system inter-connectivity on the continent is still poor and this cannot improve unless governments integrate it in their investment plans,” he said.

REGIONAL ECONOMIC BLOCS

To address the challenges, Mr Mohamed said, African countries were grouping into regional economic blocs to plan and execute infrastructural developments jointly.

Earlier, Kenya Ports Authority managing director Gichiri Ndua said that through sharing experiences, African ports could collectively deal with the challenges.

“We have seen ports within the continent work closely in a number of issues, especially in training and exchange of useful data, which have gone a long way in improving their efficiencies,” he said.

Kwale County Governor Salim Mvurya said ports had played a pivotal role in the economic growth of the developed world.