How Egypt’s ports are measuring up in terms of efficiency + operational performance: Five major Egyptian ports — Port Said, Dekheila, Damietta, Alexandria, and Sokhna ports — earned mixed results in the World Bank and S&P Global’s Container Port Performance Index (CPPI) 2022 (pdf). Port Said stood out as the highest-ranking Egyptian port, securing the 10th spot out of 348 ports worldwide, according to the report. While the rankings brought a mixed bag of results, there’s room to improve the overall competitiveness of Egypt’s ports in the global market.

How the index ranking works: The last index in 2021 (pdf) ranked the ports with two different methodologies — statistical and administrative — while the 2022 index includes an aggregate score of both.

Some ports are performing better than others: Port Said Port landed in the 10th spot of the overall ranking in 2022, while its administrative rank rose to 11 from 15 in the 2021 index. The port was ranked 10th in the statistical approach, up from 13th in the 2021 CPPI. Alexandria Port ranked 268th overall, with its statistical rank remaining unchanged y-o-y at 266 and its administrative ranking rising to 270 from 277. Coming in at #269 is Sokhna Port, which saw its statistical rank soar to 258 from 352 and its administrative ranking jump to 277 from 353 in the 2021 report.

Meanwhile, there’s room for improvement at the Dekheila + Damietta ports: Dekheila came in at #172 in the aggregate ranking, followed by the Damietta Port in 173rd place. Dekheila’s statistical score plummeted to 198 in 2022, down from 133 in the previous year, and its administrative score also dipped to 144, down from 139. Damietta’s statistical score fell to 195, down from 56 in the previous year, and its administrative score also dipped to 154, down from 58.

Increased business activity in our ports: The total number of ships that have stopped by our ports increased 10% y-o-y to 12.7k in 2022, the number of containers rose 6% y-o-y to 7.6 mn TEUs, and the volume of cargo increased 8% y-o-y to 176 mn tons, according to a 2022 Transport Ministry report (pdf).

Our ports face fierce competition from over 15 ports in the region, including Haifa, Ashdod, Beirut, Limassol, Larnaca, Mersin, Izmir, and Piraeus, Egytrans CEO Abir Leheta told Enterprise. Our competition also includes ports along the Red Sea such as Port Sudan, Massawa, Djibouti, Aden, Eilat, Jeddah, and Aqaba, according to Leheta. “It’s important that we learn from the success stories of our competitors who have deployed effective policies to gain competitive advantages — an example could be the ports of Singapore,” Leheta added.

Streamlining operations and processes: The potential establishment of a holding company to oversee the development and improvement of seven of our ports (Alexandria, Damietta, East and West Port Said, Adabiya, Sokhna, and Safaga) is part of the government’s push to streamline and optimize the processes involved in enhancing the ports’ efficiency and competitiveness, according to Leheta. “By consolidating the management and operations of these ports under a single entity, the government aims to centralize decision-making and resource allocation, thereby eliminating bureaucratic obstacles that hinder progress and inhibit effective development,” said Leheta. Through strategic investments, streamlined processes, and a focus on profitability, the holding company can drive significant improvements in the performance and these ports, enhancing their competitiveness on the global stage, she added.

One thing we can do to improve efficiency: Stop searching the cargo of transit ships: “We must reconsider our current practice of searching the cargo of transit ships bound to other countries, as this adds unnecessary burdens and delays which drives them some of them away from our ports,” Ibrahim El Desouky, member of the Cargo Manufacturing Chamber at the Egyptian Federation for Industries, told Enterprise.

Coming up with a pricing strategy that is competitive with our competitor ports like Cyprus and Greece could give us a significant advantage leading transit ships to favor us over the competition, said El Desouky. “By aligning our prices with industry standards, we can regain market share and attract more transit ships to our ports,” El Desouky explained.

Optimizing the use of a unified digitized system to streamline processes: Streamlining all the administrative processes of our ports into a unified digital system is crucial for enhancing the efficiency of these ports, according to El Desouky. “With timely data insights, we can promptly devise effective solutions, mitigating potential disruptions and optimization port operations,” El Desouky explained. This system is available in some ports such as Port Said, but its use still needs to be optimized, while in other ports it is completely absent, El Desouky added. Some of the existing digital operating systems include the THETIS MED system used for inspection processes, the Oracle OGG Gate Golden tool used for data transfer processes and the Automatic Identification System (AIS) tracking system for ships in 13 ports, according to the ministry’s report.

Deploying high-tech infrastructure: Upgrading container terminals, improving cargo handling equipment and facilities, and implementing advanced technology systems for streamlined operation could help us go a long way with improving the performance of our ports, said El Desouky.

REMEMBER- Some of our port operators are up for investment: The Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA) completed the fair value studies of the state-owned Damietta and Port Said terminal operators ahead of stake sales in the two firms. Both companies — subsidiaries of the Holding Company for Maritime Transport — were named in Madbouly’s list of 32 state-owned companies geared for privatization.

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