African ports stand to gain billions in new investments through maritime shipping decarbonisation initiatives, yet most policymakers remain unaware of these emerging opportunities.
Ships carry more than 90 percent of world trade but also produce significant pollution that warms our climate. Now, for the first time, there’s a proposal to tackle this pollution while raising money for climate projects through a global levy on shipping emissions.
This represents an enormous opportunity and a challenge that demands decisive leadership from African stakeholders.
At recent international meetings of the UN’s International Maritime Organisation (IMO), a growing coalition of small island developing states from the Pacific, Caribbean, and African regions, known as the 6PAC+ Alliance, proposed a shipping fuel levy.
This alliance advocates stronger climate action in global shipping. The levy would increase costs for polluting fuels and generate billions annually for worldwide climate projects.
And the momentum is building. More than 60 countries, including Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal and Seychelles, now support a shipping levy. A final decision on this proposal will be made at crucial IMO meetings next April in London.
For our 38 coastal countries and landlocked nations alike, this levy could affect the cost of imported goods and the competitiveness of our exports. Shipping connects Africa to global markets. Any change to shipping costs impacts our daily lives.
Climate change already threatens our ports with rising seas and stronger storms. In Dakar, Durban, Lagos and Mombasa, flooding increasingly disrupts operations. These climate impacts raise costs for consumers and businesses across the continent.
If designed without African input, shipping levy could simply increase our import and export costs. But with strong African engagement, it could instead provide billions to modernise our ports, protect our coastlines, and develop new maritime industries.
The difference between these outcomes depends entirely on how African leaders engage in negotiations over the coming months.
The shipping tax could fund concrete improvements that benefit African citizens and businesses.
First, it could finance stronger port infrastructure, meaning fewer delays for goods entering the country, lower costs for businesses, and more reliable delivery of essential imports.
Secondly, it could support training programmes for maritime workers, creating skilled jobs in sustainable shipping technologies, from ship repair to clean fuel production.
Third, it could enable African shipping companies to upgrade to cleaner vessels, ensuring they remain competitive as global rules increasingly penalise pollution.
Perhaps most importantly, if properly designed, the levy could include special provisions for developing economies, ensuring African trade routes are protected while still benefiting from climate funding.
To turn this potential threat into an opportunity, African maritime stakeholders must take clear steps before April.
Transport ministers across Africa should immediately form working groups to study how the shipping levy would affect their countries and what funding opportunities it might create.
The African Union and regional organisations should develop a unified African position. Speaking with one voice will give Africa greater influence than acting as individual nations.
Port authorities should identify projects that could receive funding such as flood protection walls, solar-powered equipment, or training facilities for maritime workers.
Business leaders should prepare for changes in shipping costs and identify opportunities in clean maritime technologies where African companies could lead.
For too long, global shipping rules have been written without meaningful African input. This has left us following regulations designed primarily for wealthy shipping nations.
This time must be different. With proper preparation, African leaders can arrive at the April 2025 convenings ready to shape, not just accept, the new shipping levy.
The stakes are clear: either we help design a system that channels billions into African maritime development, or we risk facing higher shipping costs with no corresponding benefits.
Every African citizen has a stake in this decision. Our food prices, job opportunities, export industries, and climate resilience all depend on getting this right.
The time for African maritime leadership is now. Our leaders must act today to ensure the shipping levy becomes an opportunity for Africa’s growth rather than another burden on our development.
The writer is a Maritime Policy Consultant at the Micronesian Center for Sustainable Transport, specialising in sustainable shipping and women's advancement. She is a Mandela Washington Fellow, One Young World Ambassador, and Emma Watson Scholarship recipient.
