Nigeria has commissioned feasibility studies for a number of dry ports in the country's interior to facilitate trade between the southern states and the north and between Nigeria and its neighbors to the east and the west.

Nigeria is also in the very early stages of privatizing its port operations and is being advised by technical experts from the Antwerp Port Authority. The Belgian experts will also craft plans for logistical and port management strategies to account for a surge in intermodal transportation and the integration of new port development with inland waterways and dry ports, the Lagos daily This Day reported March 19.

The efforts to improve Nigeria's transportation capabilities are already attracting investors. For instance, in March New York-based marine construction company J. Ray McDermott announced that it would locate its transport hub at the Nigerdock on Snake Island in the southwestern Nigerian port of Lagos.

Ghana, Cameroon, Cote d'Ivoire -- to name a few -- are all conducting feasibility studies or negotiating plans for port modernization and expansion. In Ghana, the government in Accra has announced that it needs about $300 million to expand two ports at Tema and Takoradi.

It will likely get the money it needs since Ghana is fast becoming a regional hub for U.S. investment in non-petroleum sectors, is considered one of the most stable nations in sub-Saharan Africa and has a small but thriving economy. Ghana's ports also recently received a boost in business when political tensions erupted in neighboring Cote d'Ivoire, leading many regional traders to divert their goods to the Gold Coast instead.

According to officials at P&O Nedlloyd SA, a global shipping company, shipping lines have increasingly been investing in Africa due to the growing importance of certain African strategic nations in these