Guides
What we know about moving goods in West Africa
Written for companies operating from outside the region: importers, exporters, forwarders, traders and industrial operators.
Market
Ask ChatGPT or Claude for a truck in West Africa: how it works
Since September 2026, an MCP compatible AI assistant can present GraceRoad, list our corridors and prepare a freight, fuel or sourcing request. What it does, what it will never do, and how to add it.
1 November 2026 · 5 min read
Read the guide
Corridors
The journey of a litre of diesel, from ship to a mine in Mali
From the refinery to the tank of a mine in Mali's Kayes region: the journey of a litre of diesel step by step, quotation, ship, port of Dakar, depot, road tanker, Moussala, escorted convoy, receipt. What each step costs, delays and risks.
1 November 2026 · 9 min read
Compliance
Diesel certificate of analysis: how to read it, line by line
Density, sulphur, flash point, cetane, distillation, water: what each line of a diesel certificate of analysis tells you, the EN 590 and ECOWAS limits, and the results that should make you reject a lot.
31 October 2026 · 7 min read
Market
Diesel consumption in mining: the calculation, machine by machine
How much diesel does an open-pit mine use? Caterpillar's published hourly fuel rates for haul trucks, excavators, dozers and loaders, generators, explosives, a worked example and the real volumes reported by gold mines.
31 October 2026 · 7 min read
Market
Diesel tonnes to litres: density, 15 °C and conversion
How many litres are there in a tonne of diesel, gasoline, Jet A-1 or CST 180 fuel oil? The conversion rule, the densities set by the standards, the effect of temperature, and why your tank shows less than the delivery note.
31 October 2026 · 7 min read
Corridors
Diesel for Zambia, Malawi, Botswana and Zimbabwe: which port
Dar es Salaam, Beira, Nacala, Walvis Bay, Matola or Durban: how diesel reaches Zambia, Malawi, Botswana and Zimbabwe, who imports it, the pipelines, the stocks, Malawi's crisis and what to know to get delivered.
31 October 2026 · 7 min read
Trade finance
Dollar shortage: how to pay for and secure fuel imports
When a country runs short of dollars, letters of credit stop being confirmed and fuel stops arriving. Malawi's 2026 case, the solutions that have worked (Kenya, Afreximbank, ITFC, PAPSS) and seven practical ways to still pay and get delivered.
31 October 2026 · 7 min read
Market
EN590 vs AGO diesel: specifications, price and how to buy
EN590 10ppm diesel or AGO: the difference, specification tables (sulphur, density, cetane, flash point), how the EN590 price is set, subsidised pump prices versus the market price, and fake offers to avoid.
31 October 2026 · 10 min read
Compliance
Fuel delivery checklist: receiving diesel on site
The checklist for receiving a diesel road tanker on site: documents, seals, tank dips before and after, temperature, samples, appearance, density, reservations on the delivery note. And what to do when the numbers do not add up.
31 October 2026 · 6 min read
Trade finance
Fuel supply contract: the clauses to read before signing
Specification, quantity and tolerance, price and pricing period, inspection, passing of title and risk, demurrage, payment, claim deadlines, governing law: the clauses of a fuel supply contract explained one by one.
31 October 2026 · 7 min read
Trade finance
Fuel supply tender: how to write one that gets real offers
Lots, volumes, specification, indexed price formula, delivery, payment, inspection, evaluation criteria: how to write a diesel supply tender that attracts real suppliers and produces offers you can compare.
31 October 2026 · 6 min read
Market
Mining companies in Senegal and Mali: the 2026 list
List of mining companies in Senegal and Mali in 2026: gold mines, phosphate, zircon, lithium and cement. Operators, sites, declared production and projects under construction.
31 October 2026 · 9 min read
Sourcing
Rice imports in Senegal and Mali: prices and rules in 2026
Rice imports into Senegal and Mali in 2026: volumes, origins (India, Brazil, Thailand, Pakistan), the broken rice price cap, import declarations and quotas, duties, and trucking from Dakar to Bamako.
31 October 2026 · 7 min read
Market
Diesel buffer stock on site: how many days to hold when the road closes
How many days of diesel should a mine, power plant or construction site in West Africa hold? The calculation, the lessons of Mali, Gabon and Sierra Leone in 2026, what the stock costs, and the rules that keep diesel usable.
25 October 2026 · 7 min read
Market
Diesel in Sierra Leone and Liberia: who imports, at what price, and how to get supplied
Sierra Leone and Liberia import all their fuel. Official 2026 prices, national stocks counted in weeks, importers, the ports of Freetown, Monrovia and Buchanan, booming mines: what a buyer needs to know to secure diesel.
25 October 2026 · 7 min read
Market
CST 180 and CST 380 heavy fuel oil for power plants: price and specs
Heavy fuel oil still runs much of West Africa's electricity: 344,000 tonnes burned by Senelec in 2024. CST 180 or CST 380: ISO 8217 specifications grade by grade and which one to order, how the price is built, logistics, the plants that use it, and what the shift to gas will change.
25 October 2026 · 10 min read
Sourcing
Chad sesame: the world's 10th exporter, and how to buy its crop
Chad exported 103,000 tonnes of sesame in 2024, 88% of it to Turkey. Production, growing regions, reference price, the Douala route, quality and pitfalls: what an importer needs to know before buying Chadian sesame.
19 October 2026 · 5 min read
Market
Cameroon Without a Refinery Until 2027: How the Country and Its Industry Buy Fuel
Since the SONARA fire in 2019, Cameroon has imported its fuel: 274.3 billion CFA francs in the first quarter of 2026, traders chosen every quarter, a refinery promised for the end of 2027. What it means for an industrial buyer.
15 October 2026 · 4 min read
Corridors
Conakry Bamako Corridor: A Back-Up Route to Supply Mali in 2026?
The Conakry Bamako corridor in 2026: the Mali Guinea agreements of 28 January, Mali's space at the port of Conakry, the Kankan warehouses, real volumes, Guinean fuel supply and what to check before committing a truck.
15 October 2026 · 4 min read
Project cargo
Fuel Supply for a Mine in Guinea: Via Conakry, Via Kamsar or by Road?
How to supply diesel to a mine in Guinea in 2026: the fragile local market, delivery by sea to Conakry or Kamsar from 2,000 tonnes, the road from Senegal, storage and quality. The options, their limits, and how to choose.
15 October 2026 · 5 min read
Trade finance
Platts Plus Premium: How a Diesel Cargo Price Is Calculated
"Platts plus 130 dollars": the formula appears in every bulk fuel offer. What the Platts quotation is, what the premium pays for, how to convert tonnes to litres, a worked example, and a checklist to compare two offers without getting it wrong.
15 October 2026 · 6 min read
Market
Gabon Fuel Shortage 2026: What Happened, and How Companies Can Secure Supply
Gabon's fuel shortage in October 2026: diesel then petrol ran out in Libreville, emergency cargoes at Owendo, six days of cover, a weakened Sogara refinery. The timeline, the causes, and what a company can do to stop depending on it.
15 October 2026 · 5 min read
Trade finance
Fuel trading explained: nobody has the product, everybody finances it
From Marc Rich to Vitol, from Libyan crude to the Probo Koala in Abidjan: how fuel traders became giants without owning wells or refineries, why some collapsed, and what it means for a buyer in Africa.
14 October 2026 · 11 min read
Sourcing
Sourcing in Africa: From Mine Supplies to Banana Containers
Supplying a mine with fuel, buying bauxite, cashew or bananas in reefer containers: one sourcing method for Africa, applied product by product.
11 October 2026 · 7 min read
Sourcing
Sourcing, Logistics and Fuel Supply in West Africa
GraceRoad, a logistics company in Senegal: sourcing of African commodities, diesel and fuel supply delivered to site, and road freight across West Africa.
10 October 2026 · 14 min read
Sourcing
African Coffee Beans Wholesale: Robusta Price and Origins
Robusta prices in London, farmgate prices in Côte d'Ivoire and Cameroon, West and Central African origins, quality, documents and buying rules: what to know before buying green coffee from Africa in 2026.
9 October 2026 · 5 min read
Project cargo
Bitumen Price per Ton 2026: Delivered to Site in Africa
Bitumen jumped from US$382 to over US$607 a tonne between February and March 2026 as the Strait of Hormuz closed. What makes up the delivered price, West Africa's only bitumen refinery in Abidjan, grades, bulk and drums.
9 October 2026 · 5 min read
Sourcing
Cashew Kernels W320: Grades, Price and Buying From Africa
What W320 means, cashew kernel grades and qualities under the AFI specification, the W320 price in 2026 by origin, container loading, and how to buy cashew kernels directly from West African processors.
9 October 2026 · 5 min read
Sourcing
Cocoa Price 2026: Farmgate Prices and Who Can Buy Beans
Farmgate cocoa prices for the 2026-2027 season in Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana and Cameroon, the New York price, and who is allowed to buy cocoa beans in each country: forward sales, the Cocoa Marketing Company, a liberalised market.
9 October 2026 · 6 min read
Compliance
Commodity Scams in Africa: 12 Red Flags That Never Lie
Fake fuel stocks in Rotterdam, forged inspection reports, advance fees, cut-price gold: the 12 red flags of a commodity trading scam, drawn from court cases and official alerts, and how to verify an offer.
9 October 2026 · 5 min read
Sourcing
FOB vs CIF: Which One When You Buy From Africa?
FOB and CIF under the ICC Incoterms 2020: who charters, who insures, when risk passes, the minimum insurance under CIF, the container question, and the rule in several West African countries that imports must be insured locally.
9 October 2026 · 5 min read
Project cargo
Generator Fuel Consumption: How Much Diesel per Hour?
How many litres of diesel does a generator burn per hour, per day and per month? Figures from manufacturers' data sheets, from 227 to 2,000 kVA, the litres per kWh method, and what it means in road tankers.
9 October 2026 · 5 min read
Sourcing
Gum Arabic Price per Ton and Suppliers Beyond Sudan
Gum arabic export prices in 2026, hashab and talha, the collapse of the Sudanese market, the rise of Chad, other West and Central African origins, proof of origin and documents: what to know before buying gum arabic.
9 October 2026 · 5 min read
Compliance
How to Get a Mining License in West Africa
Exploration licences, mining leases and small mine permits: durations, the State's free share and the rules in Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea, taken from the mining codes in force. Plus what to check before you take over an existing licence.
9 October 2026 · 8 min read
Trade finance
ICPO, LOI, FCO, POF Meaning: Trade Documents Decoded
LOI, ICPO, FCO, SCO, POF, RWA, NCNDA, SPA: what the acronyms of commodity trading mean, what they really commit you to under OHADA law and the Vienna Convention, and why they so often serve scams.
9 October 2026 · 5 min read
Sourcing
Import From Africa: 10 Commodities and Their 2026 Prices
Cocoa, cashew, coffee, sesame, cotton, shea, gum arabic, groundnuts, natural rubber and timber: for each of the ten main agricultural commodities of West and Central Africa, the origin, the 2026 reference price and the export rule to know before importing.
9 October 2026 · 6 min read
Compliance
Investing in Africa: The Real Barrier Is Legal Security
Licences withdrawn, mines nationalised, concessions taken back without compensation: in 2024 and 2025, Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali changed the rules midway. The money exists, including in Africa. What is missing is trust in the signed word.
9 October 2026 · 6 min read
Sourcing
Iroko Wood Price per Cubic Meter and African Hardwoods
FOB prices for iroko, sapele, padauk, ayous and okoume logs and sawn timber in September 2026, West African teak, log export bans, protected species and documents: what to know before buying African hardwood.
9 October 2026 · 5 min read
Sourcing
Jet A1 Price per Litre: Buying Aviation Fuel in West Africa
Jet A-1 price in October 2026 from the IATA and Platts index, per barrel, per tonne and per litre, why it doubled in a year, what is added on the way to the wing, the quality standard, and how to buy aviation fuel in West Africa.
9 October 2026 · 5 min read
Sourcing
Ivory Coast Rubber Price, October 2026: 526 CFA per Kilo, From Farm to Tyre
Monthly farmgate rubber prices in Côte d'Ivoire in 2026, the Singapore benchmark, the reform of the split between farmers and factories, the raw export ban, and how to buy: who earns what in the Ivorian rubber chain.
9 October 2026 · 6 min read
Project cargo
Project Cargo in West Africa: Moving Oversized Loads by Road
When does a load become an exceptional transport in the UEMOA? Maximum dimensions and weights under Regulation 14, a permit from the minister of each country crossed, escort, route survey: what you need to know to move heavy and oversized cargo by road in West Africa.
9 October 2026 · 4 min read
Sourcing
Senegal Groundnuts and Peanuts 2026: Prices and Buyers
Farmgate floor price, production, record SONACOS collection, the deal with exporters and the end of the export tax, aflatoxin limits: what to know before buying groundnuts from Senegal in 2026.
9 October 2026 · 6 min read
Sourcing
Sourcing Agent in Africa: What It Does, What It Costs
What a sourcing agent does in West Africa, what OHADA law says about commercial intermediaries, the three ways to pay an agent, the clauses of a sourcing mandate, and the warning signs.
9 October 2026 · 6 min read
Compliance
What Is JORC in Mining? Resource vs Reserve Explained
Inferred, indicated and measured resources, probable and proved reserves, Competent Persons, scoping to feasibility studies: mining terms explained, the documents to ask for, the firms that sign them, the risks, and how mines get financed in West Africa.
9 October 2026 · 8 min read
Sourcing
Diesel prices in West Africa: the real cost, country by country (2026)
Barometer of diesel prices in West Africa, country by country: official pump price, real cost, subsidies, mining tariffs and black market. Interactive map, date and source for every figure, updated every month.
2 October 2026 · 10 min read
Trade finance
Fuel cargo hidden costs: demurrage, pumping, lightering
Vessel demurrage, pumping, lightering, ship-to-ship transfers, port and depot charges, losses, financing: every cost that can destroy a full cargo fuel deal in West Africa, with official figures from Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal, and how to protect yourself.
2 October 2026 · 11 min read
Trade finance
LC, SBLC, cash and carry: payment terms in commodity trading
Every payment method used in fuel and commodity deals: advance payment, cash and carry, documentary collection, confirmed or transferable letters of credit, SBLC, open account. Who carries the risk, and the scams to recognise.
2 October 2026 · 8 min read
Compliance
SGS Inspection Cost: Cargo Inspection Fees Explained
Inspection companies rarely publish their rates. Here are three price books filed in an official docket, for fuel, grain and containers: per-tonne fees, minimums, lab tests, surcharges, who pays, and what the certificate does not guarantee.
2 October 2026 · 13 min read
Sourcing
Sourcing from Africa: three worked cases, mandate to ship
How sourcing in West Africa actually runs, step by step, through three worked cases: a Japanese roaster looking for coffee, an Indian cashew processor with leads but afraid to pay, a European manufacturer that wants legal timber.
2 October 2026 · 7 min read
Partnerships
Why is there no African Glencore, Cargill or Nestlé?
Africa has the oil, the cocoa, the cashew, the ores. It has no Glencore, no Cargill, no Nestlé. Our view: it is not a question of resources or of money, it is a question of initiative. The facts, and what has to change.
2 October 2026 · 7 min read
Compliance
50 ppm diesel: specification, ECOWAS standard and price
What 50 ppm diesel means, where the ECOWAS standard came from, who actually meets it in 2026 (imports, refineries, waivers), how to check a batch, and what it does to the price.
1 October 2026 · 5 min read
Compliance
Adulterated diesel: how to spot it and protect your fleet
Diluted diesel, blended petrol, water in the tank: what adulterated fuel is, why it turns up in West Africa, the warning signs, and the receiving procedure that protects a fleet or a remote site.
1 October 2026 · 5 min read
Customs
Bill of lading meaning, with a real West African example
The bill of lading explained: its three functions, its forms (to order, straight, bearer), the fields to check line by line for a shipment to Dakar, its role in a letter of credit, and the Hamburg Rules in force in Senegal.
1 October 2026 · 5 min read
Customs
China to Senegal freight forwarder: groupage, customs, costs
Importing from China into Senegal step by step: Incoterm, groupage or full container, pre-import declaration, master and house bills of lading, duties and taxes in Dakar, and the traps that cost small importers most.
1 October 2026 · 5 min read
Customs
Customs broker in Senegal: role, licence and responsibilities
What a customs declarant does in Senegal, who may declare on behalf of others, how a declaration is built (tariff line, value, origin, regime), the path through GAINDE to release, and what makes the declarant liable.
1 October 2026 · 4 min read
Sourcing
Dangote refinery sales: who can buy its diesel, and how
Licensed Nigerian marketers, global trading houses, regional importers: who actually buys from the Dangote refinery, on what terms, and how a buyer elsewhere in West Africa can get access to its fuel.
1 October 2026 · 7 min read
Customs
DDP vs DAP Incoterms: Which to Use When Shipping to Africa
DDP vs DAP Incoterms when shipping to Africa: who pays duty and VAT, a worked Senegal example (44.5% of value), the traps of DDP, and how to choose.
1 October 2026 · 8 min read
Customs
Demurrage vs detention: meaning, charges, how to avoid them
Demurrage, detention and terminal storage: who charges them, when they start, how to calculate them in Dakar with a real carrier tariff, and how to stop a container costing more than its cargo.
1 October 2026 · 5 min read
Sourcing
Fuel prices in Mali in 2026: what drives the pump price
Official prices of diesel, petrol, fuel oil and LPG in Mali in 2026, what pushed them up on 28 March, why diesel costs more than petrol, and why it sells for twice as much outside Bamako.
1 October 2026 · 5 min read
Sourcing
Fuel shortages in Africa: causes, costs and costed solutions
Why West and Central Africa run short of fuel while producing oil, what shortages cost, and five costed pilot projects to end them: strategic reserves, inland depots and a regional contract with Dangote. Country by country: Malawi, Niger, Chad, Mali, Gabon, Congo, Botswana, Madagascar.
1 October 2026 · 18 min read
Sourcing
Tank farms and tank terminals in West Africa, port by port (2026)
Tank farms and tank terminals in West Africa, port by port: Lagos, Dakar, Abidjan, Tema, Lomé, Cotonou, Freetown, Monrovia. Operators, 2026 capacities, and how a buyer gets fuel storage.
1 October 2026 · 15 min read
Project cargo
Fuel tanker truck 45,000 litres: price, capacity and hire
What a 45,000 litre road tanker really carries, how much it weighs full of diesel or petrol against the UEMOA 51 tonne limit, what a tanker semi-trailer costs, and when to hire rather than buy.
1 October 2026 · 5 min read
Compliance
Kpayo: Benin's informal fuel trade from Nigeria, explained
Kpayo, the smuggled Nigerian petrol sold in bottles along Benin's roads: where it comes from, what it costs in 2026, its risks, the mini-station reform, and what the Dangote refinery changes for this trade.
1 October 2026 · 5 min read
Sourcing
Buying Malian cotton lint: CMDT, volumes and route to port
Mali's cotton in 2026: 433,700 tonnes of seed cotton, a producer price held at 300 CFA francs, a 598,500 tonne target, Benin back in first place, Asian demand, and the road to port for lint grown hundreds of kilometres from the sea.
1 October 2026 · 4 min read
Sourcing
National oil companies in West Africa: SONABHY, SONIDEP, SONAP
SONABHY in Burkina Faso, SONIDEP in Niger, SONAP in Guinea, OMAP in Mali, and the regulators of Senegal, Ghana and Nigeria: who imports fuel, who sets prices, and how to work with them as a supplier or large buyer.
1 October 2026 · 6 min read
Trade finance
Petroleum products trading in Africa: from cargo to jerrycan
Who buys, finances, ships, stores and resells fuel in West Africa: refineries, global traders, licensed importers, depots, marketers, stations and the informal market. Where the margin is made, and where a new player fits.
1 October 2026 · 5 min read
Sourcing
Raw cashew nuts price in 2026: buying from West Africa
The 2026 farmgate price of raw cashew nuts in Côte d'Ivoire, Benin's ban on raw nut exports, Guinea-Bissau, what Indian and Vietnamese processors pay for, and how to buy raw cashew nuts in West Africa without surprises.
1 October 2026 · 5 min read
Compliance
Selling fuel in West Africa: licences and who is allowed
Import, storage and distribution licences, distributor approvals, state monopolies: who may sell fuel in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Nigeria and Benin, and how a foreign supplier can enter these markets.
1 October 2026 · 5 min read
Sourcing
Sesame price per kg in 2026: sourcing from Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso's 2025/2026 sesame floor price, the record crop of 376,945 tonnes, international quotes, China's weight on the market, and how to buy West African sesame that meets importers' requirements.
1 October 2026 · 4 min read
Sourcing
Shea butter wholesale: buying in bulk from West Africa
Buying shea butter or shea kernels in bulk from West Africa in 2026: official prices in Mali, Burkina Faso and Côte d'Ivoire, raw kernel export bans country by country, quality criteria, and why butter is replacing kernels in exports.
1 October 2026 · 5 min read
Sourcing
West African refineries in 2026: Dangote, SIR, SAR, Tema
Every refinery in West Africa in 2026, with its capacity and real status: Dangote, SIR in Abidjan, SAR in Dakar, Tema and Sentuo in Ghana, SORAZ in Niger, and Nigeria's idle state refineries.
1 October 2026 · 7 min read
Customs
What is a freight forwarder? Role, fees, forwarder vs broker
What a freight forwarder does, how it differs from a licensed customs broker, how to read its quote (fees and disbursements), the documents it will ask for, and five checks before hiring one in Senegal and West Africa.
1 October 2026 · 4 min read
Corridors
What is freight? Sea, air and road explained for Africa
Freight means both the goods carried and the price of carrying them. Sea, air and road freight: how each is priced, what goes into it, and what it really costs in West Africa, with worked figures.
1 October 2026 · 4 min read
Project cargo
Mine Load-Out Operations in West Africa: Stockpile to Ship
Mine load-out operations in West Africa: trucks per vessel, moisture limits, weighing, port stockpiles. Where tonnes and weeks are lost, and the fix.
26 September 2026 · 9 min read
Corridors
Too much freight, not enough trucks: a field report from our first weeks in West African trucking
Since GraceRoad opened, demand has never been the problem. Trucks are: our partner carriers are fully booked. A first-hand account of the vicious circle behind West Africa's truck shortage, what keeps it turning, and what it would take to break it.
23 September 2026 · 5 min read
Customs
Money moves in a second, the truck waits for hours: banks, checkpoints and customs
Since September 2025, a payment crosses the WAEMU in real time. A truck loan is still assembled on paper, and a fully compliant truck loses hours at checkpoints between Dakar and Bamako. Figures from the BCEAO and the Observatory of Abnormal Practices, and what digital tools can already change.
22 September 2026 · 5 min read
Trade finance
New trucks from China, end-of-lease trucks from Europe: how European manufacturers are losing Africa
China shipped 118,000 heavy trucks to Africa in ten months, new, under warranty, often on credit. Europe mostly sends its used ones. African risk is the usual excuse, yet the data says it can be insured, and many of the tools to insure it are European.
22 September 2026 · 6 min read
Corridors
4 to 7 million CFA francs for a truck to Bamako: where the money actually goes
A full truck from Dakar to Bamako now costs 4 to 7 million CFA francs depending on tonnage, against an official Malian rate of about 60,000 per tonne. Diesel, tyres, crew, waiting days, empty returns and risk: the cost line by line, and what is left for the truck owner.
19 September 2026 · 6 min read
Sourcing
Buying diesel, gasoline and fuel oil in West Africa: from depot to full cargo, delivered to your site
Mines, power plants, construction sites, truck fleets and distributors: where to source diesel, gasoline, fuel oil and lubricants in West Africa, which specification to demand, how the price is built, and how to secure predictable supply, from a tank truck to a full vessel.
19 September 2026 · 5 min read
Corridors
Ndayane: what Senegal's new deep water port changes for cargo bound for Senegal and Mali
DP World finished dredging Ndayane in July 2026, thirteen months early, and now targets delivery in the third quarter of 2028. A 20 metre channel, 1.2 billion dollars, 50 km from Dakar: what changes for importers into Senegal and Mali, and what to decide now.
19 September 2026 · 5 min read
Customs
Forward stock and bonded warehousing: selling into West Africa without setting up there
A manufacturer can place stock in Senegal, sell it down over time and pay duty only as it leaves, without creating a subsidiary. What the suspensive customs regimes allow, what it costs, and who it genuinely pays for.
18 September 2026 · 4 min read
Customs
Why nobody wants your 5 tonnes at the port of Dakar, and how to fix it before the truck leaves
Too small for a heavy truck, too far for a small one, turned away even by carriers with space left: the small importer is the customer West African trucking forgets. The real reason is customs, and it can be solved at the point of departure.
18 September 2026 · 5 min read
Corridors
Dakar, Abidjan, Lomé, Cotonou, Nouakchott: which port should your cargo enter
The best port is neither the largest nor the best ranked. It is the one that serves your destination with the fewest lost days. A comparison of West African gateways, with performance figures, and the method to decide.
18 September 2026 · 4 min read
Trade finance
Who earns the money between FOB and your warehouse
A delivered price breaks into about ten lines, and most of the gap between two offers comes neither from ocean freight nor from duty. Here is the full map, line by line, and where the money you pay without seeing it actually goes.
18 September 2026 · 4 min read
Customs
The AfCFTA in 2026: why your cargo still pays duty at the border
50 of 54 signatories have ratified the African Continental Free Trade Area, yet a truck crossing an African border often pays the same duty as before. Tariff schedules, rules of origin, certificates and regional regimes: what is holding it back, and how to tell whether your shipment qualifies.
17 September 2026 · 6 min read
Corridors
The truck is already rolling: buying the cargo and its transport in one click
Thousands of loaded trucks run between the ports and the interior, and nobody knows what they carry or where they are going. Here is what that flow becomes once hubs and a platform make it visible and buyable.
17 September 2026 · 5 min read
Trade finance
The quote said 4 million, the invoice says 5.5: the costs that appear on the road
Waiting time at loading, escorts, parking, storage, devanning, container return, detours: the charges a West African trucking quote leaves out and the invoice brings back. How to get them in writing before departure, and which ones to refuse.
17 September 2026 · 4 min read
Corridors
Africa is two million trucks short, and the order books are empty
The continental free trade area implies 2.09 million additional trucks by 2030, 39 percent of them in West Africa. The figure has been public for years. Nobody is ordering. Here is why, and what that opens for anyone who can read an operating account.
16 September 2026 · 5 min read
Compliance
Lost or stolen cargo in West Africa: why the carrier owes you only 5,000 CFA francs a kilo
Across the seventeen OHADA states, the law caps a road carrier's liability at 5,000 CFA francs per kilo of gross weight, about 7.6 euros. For 20 kg of phones worth 10 million, that is 100,000 CFA francs. What the Uniform Act says, the deadlines that matter, and how to protect high value cargo.
16 September 2026 · 4 min read
Corridors
Shipping to Mali under blockade: what the numbers actually say
More than 300 fuel tankers destroyed since September 2025, over 2,000 containers stuck in Dakar in November, truck rates up from about 1.4 to nearly 4 million CFA francs. What still reaches Bamako, by which route, at what cost, and how to protect a shipment.
16 September 2026 · 5 min read
Corridors
An enormous market, and almost nobody serving it properly
97 billion dollars of food imported in three years, road freight set to double, two million trucks to find. The size of the West African logistics market is not a promise. It is a flow that already moves, badly served.
15 September 2026 · 4 min read
Compliance
Paying a carrier in cash with no invoice: what it really costs a company in Senegal
Paying a truck in cash, off the books, looks cheaper. For a company in Senegal it means 18 percent VAT you cannot recover, an expense the tax office adds back at 30 percent, and no evidence when a dispute arrives. What the tax code says, and the special case of transport to Mali.
15 September 2026 · 3 min read
Sourcing
Buying cocoa, groundnut or iron ore in Africa: the product exists, the counterparty does not
Soy, groundnut, cocoa, sesame, iron ore, refined fuel: the volumes are real and so are the prices. What a foreign buyer lacks is a company that answers for the goods, the transport and the papers. Here is how that risk comes apart, point by point.
14 September 2026 · 5 min read
Compliance
CBAM is live: what Europe's carbon border tax means for African steel, aluminium, cement and fertiliser
Since 1 January 2026, EU importers pay for the carbon embedded in the steel, aluminium, cement, fertiliser and hydrogen they buy. Raw iron ore is out of scope, steel is in. Who pays, from when, and why the place of processing now sets the price.
14 September 2026 · 6 min read
Customs
The documents that stop a truck at the Senegal Mali border, and how to prepare them before departure
Trucks almost never get stuck at the border because of the road. They get stuck because of a document. The paperwork for moving cargo from Dakar to Mali, who provides each piece, and the mistakes that cost days.
14 September 2026 · 4 min read
Corridors
African trucking is not expensive to run. It is expensive to buy.
On African corridors, operating costs look like those of other developing regions, but the price a shipper pays carries margins of 60 to 160 percent. What that gap says about the market, and about what is still there to take.
13 September 2026 · 4 min read
Compliance
Half of Senegal's trucks run overloaded. Here is who pays.
In April 2026, 47.71 percent of the 148,885 trucks weighed in Senegal were over the legal limit, even after a 20 percent tolerance. What UEMOA Regulation 14 says, what an offload costs the shipper, and how to spot a freight quote that only works overloaded.
13 September 2026 · 7 min read
Corridors
Rainy season freight in West Africa: why rates and transit times change from July to October
Every rainy season, roads break, tracks turn to mud and trucks stand still. In 2026, cargo for Mali runs on a southern branch that still has kilometres of dirt road. What changes during the rains, and how to plan shipments around them.
13 September 2026 · 4 min read
Sourcing
African exporters do not lose on price. They lose on the delivery date.
A European buyer will pay more for fruit that arrives when promised, in the grade promised, with documents that clear. Reliability is the product. Most West African offers are priced as if it were the cargo.
12 September 2026 · 4 min read
Trade finance
Amazon has no warehouse in Dakar. That is not a verdict on the market.
Alibaba built its African logistics hubs in Kigali and Addis Ababa. Benin raised 700 million dollars for an industrial zone that buyers now source from. The capital is not waiting for permission. It is waiting for a node.
12 September 2026 · 5 min read
Cold chain
Three degrees and four hours: the arithmetic of a lost mango shipment
The EU suspended Malian mangoes in September 2025 after 63 fruit fly interceptions, closing a market that took about 80 percent of the crop's exports. Senegal shipped 19,000 tonnes and is aiming at 35,000.
12 September 2026 · 4 min read
Sourcing
The bananas rot in Abidjan while Tunis runs out. This is not a money problem.
Côte d'Ivoire shipped 271,000 tonnes of bananas in 2025. Tunisia capped banana prices to hold back a shortage. Nigeria and Senegal repeat the same pattern, and the capital to fix it already exists.
12 September 2026 · 6 min read
Customs
Customs raised the value of your goods: how customs valuation really works in West Africa
Your invoice says 3 million CFA francs, customs uses 5 million, and duties follow. What the UEMOA valuation rules say, why an invoice gets rejected, what evidence to prepare, and how to appeal in Senegal.
12 September 2026 · 4 min read
Customs
Dakar port is not a warehouse. Stop using it as one.
Ten free days, four days of vessel waiting, quays filled with empty boxes. Storage at the port is the most expensive square metre in Senegal, and most of the cargo sitting on it should be inland.
12 September 2026 · 4 min read
Partnerships
Digitising African trucking: the criticism first, the benefits after
African freight platforms raised hundreds of millions and broke on the informal market, working capital and trust. Here is why, and what works anyway once you take the problem from the right end.
12 September 2026 · 5 min read
Corridors
The empty truck going home is the most expensive vehicle in West Africa
Senegal sold Mali 662 billion CFA of goods in nine months of 2025, and by February 2026 some 4,000 empty containers were stranded in Bamako. Every loaded leg pays for the empty one.
12 September 2026 · 4 min read
Corridors
Why the last 1,200 kilometres cost as much as the first 12,000
A 40 foot container from Shanghai to Dakar runs around 5,000 dollars. Getting it to Bamako can cost the same. Here is where the money actually goes on the inland leg.
12 September 2026 · 4 min read
Corridors
West Africa does not have a road problem. It has a rail problem that the roads are paying for.
The Dakar Niger railway has carried no freight since 2018, so 40 tonne trucks carry it instead: 27 checkpoints, 316 minutes at the border, and a road surface that will not survive the traffic.
12 September 2026 · 5 min read
Corridors
Road, sea and rail have to meet somewhere. In West Africa, they never do.
Kenya built an inland depot for 4,000 containers and fills 19 percent of it. Ethiopia runs 80 percent of its trade through one dry port and still reports delays. West Africa has not even started, and nobody is keeping us out but ourselves.
12 September 2026 · 4 min read
Sourcing
Tunisia buys bananas from Ecuador. Côte d'Ivoire is four days away.
Intra-African trade is around 16 percent of the continent's exports. The tariffs, the payment system and the free trade area now exist. What is missing is somebody running the route.
12 September 2026 · 4 min read
Trade finance
What a bankable corridor file looks like
BADEA has committed around 700 million dollars to Senegal across 95 operations. The ITFC signed a five year, two billion euro framework with the country. The money is not the obstacle. The file is.
12 September 2026 · 4 min read
Customs
Your goods are not late. They are waiting at a border post.
Twenty seven controls on one trip, 316 minutes of border delay, about 40,000 CFA paid along the way. The delay on a West African corridor is a procedure problem before it is a road problem.
12 September 2026 · 4 min read
Trade finance
Paying a West African carrier without getting caught: deposit, balance and proof of delivery
The deposit sent to a number that stops answering, the truck that is not the one promised, the middleman who collects and vanishes: the traps in paying for road freight in West Africa, and the order in which to pay so you are never exposed.
11 September 2026 · 3 min read
Corridors
Devan in Dakar or send the container to Bamako: the calculation that saves weeks of detention
A container that goes up to Bamako runs up detention every day it is not returned, and in February 2026 about 4,000 empty containers were stuck there. When to strip the box in Dakar, when to keep it closed, and how to run the numbers before you decide.
10 September 2026 · 3 min read
Trade finance
What a truck really costs when money costs 25 percent
The headline rate is not the problem. In the West African monetary union, bank credit runs near 6.7 percent and the usury ceiling caps banks at 14. The real cost of financing a truck sits elsewhere: in the collateral, the delay, and the months the unit does not run.
10 September 2026 · 4 min read
Partnerships
Drivers run out before trucks do
The world is 3.6 million truck drivers short, and Africa is not even in the survey. What that missing data hides, what one resignation costs an operator, and what actually keeps a good driver.
8 September 2026 · 4 min read
Partnerships
Choosing a freight agent in West Africa: what to verify before you appoint one
A checklist for forwarders in Antwerp, Marseille, Shanghai or Dubai appointing a correspondent in Senegal, Mali or Côte d'Ivoire: licences, duty prefinancing, response times and what goes wrong.
5 September 2026 · 5 min read
Cold chain
Cold chain into and out of West Africa: pharmaceuticals and perishables
Where a temperature-controlled shipment actually breaks (the plug-in at the terminal, the reefer-to-truck transfer, the last mile), and what temperature records are worth when a claim is made.
5 September 2026 · 4 min read
Sourcing
Due diligence on an African supplier: what you can verify, and what you cannot
How to check a company registration in Senegal, Côte d'Ivoire or Mali, the recurring fraud patterns in commodity trade, and the one verification that cannot be done from a desk.
5 September 2026 · 5 min read
Compliance
EUDR: what African exporters and EU buyers must have ready by 30 December 2026
The EU Deforestation Regulation applies to large and medium operators from 30 December 2026. Geolocation, due diligence statements and legality evidence for cocoa, coffee, timber, palm oil, rubber, soy and cattle products.
5 September 2026 · 6 min read
Project cargo
Getting heavy equipment from the port to a mine site in West Africa
Crushers, generators, production lines and plant: how an out-of-gauge move is actually prepared, from vessel discharge to site offloading, and what it costs when it is not.
5 September 2026 · 4 min read
Partnerships
Humanitarian and donor-funded logistics in the Sahel
Customs exemptions for relief consignments, donor procurement rules, constrained-access routing and the delivery deadlines a project cycle imposes, for NGOs and agencies operating in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad.
5 September 2026 · 5 min read
Customs
What a foreign company needs to import into Senegal
You cannot lodge a customs declaration in a country where you have no legal existence. The three routes open to a foreign seller (buyer of record, agent as importer, or a local entity), and what each costs you in control.
5 September 2026 · 6 min read
Trade finance
Securing payment between Africa and abroad: letters of credit and what they actually protect
The buyer will not pay before shipment, the seller will not ship before payment. How a documentary credit resolves it, what each document proves, and the discrepancies that stop payment.
5 September 2026 · 6 min read
Project cargo
Mining and industrial projects in West Africa: the logistics of the first three years
Construction plant, then the permanent flow of fuel, reagents, explosives and spares. Customs regimes under a mining convention, temporary admission, bonded storage, and why the second year is harder than the first.
5 September 2026 · 5 min read
Project cargo
Oil and gas logistics in Senegal and Mauritania: what the onshore chain looks like
Sangomar and Greater Tortue Ahmeyim have made Senegal and Mauritania producers. What that means for the port, the customs regimes, drilling chemicals under ADR, and the supply chain behind an offshore project.
5 September 2026 · 5 min read
Customs
Quoting DDP into West Africa: the duties and charges that break a price
The ECOWAS common external tariff, import VAT, statistical and community levies, port charges and demurrage, and the reason a foreign exporter cannot clear customs in their own name.
5 September 2026 · 7 min read
Corridors
Shipping a Container to Senegal: Costs, Customs, 2026 Rules
Shipping a container to Senegal or on to Mali: the BESC and DPI filings, duty of about 44% on consumer goods, carrier free time, and how to clear Dakar fast.
5 September 2026 · 10 min read
Corridors
Shipping from China to West Africa: what your supplier cannot tell you
The part of a China to Africa shipment that decides whether it works: port release in Dakar or Abidjan, tariff classification, inland haulage to Bamako or Ouagadougou, and why a CIF price is not a landed cost.
5 September 2026 · 5 min read
Sourcing
Buying from Africa without ever having set foot there: commodities, seasons and delivery
Cashew, cotton, shea butter, timber, cocoa, sesame, gum arabic and more: origins, harvest windows, packing, and how the goods actually reach your warehouse.
5 September 2026 · 7 min read
Corridors
Warehousing and distribution: positioning stock inside West Africa
Moving from container-by-container shipping to stock held in-region: bonded warehousing and duty deferral, where to position stock for Mali and Burkina, and what it changes for working capital.
5 September 2026 · 5 min read
Corridors
The West African logistics calendar: when to ship, and when not to
Rainy season, harvest peaks that absorb the truck fleet, religious holidays that empty the quays, year-end budget surges: the annual rhythm that decides whether a delivery date is realistic.
5 September 2026 · 5 min read