Volume 4 Issue 1
Page 1-6
Beyond Ports and Vessels: Rethinking Maritime Transport as a Service for Regional Development
Emmanuel Mogaji - Keele Business School, Keele University, UK
Abstract
Maritime transport discussions in many developing economies are frequently dominated by infrastructure concerns, including ports, vessels, dredging projects, and logistics facilities. While such investments are essential, an infrastructure-centric perspective may limit understanding of how maritime transport contributes to wider economic and societal outcomes. This commentary argues that maritime transport should be viewed not only as physical infrastructure but also as a service that enables connectivity, trade, inclusion, and regional development. Drawing on reflections from the Nigerian context and lessons from the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea Basin, the Mississippi River Basin, and the Rotterdam–Antwerp port system, the article questions whether infrastructure alone can deliver transformative outcomes. It highlights the importance of demand creation, ecosystem coordination, trust, governance, and service design in shaping maritime transport success. The commentary opens a debate on how maritime transport can support regional integration under ECOWAS and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and proposes directions for future research at the intersection of transport services, regional development, and service ecosystems.
Keywords: Maritime Transport; Transport Services; Service Ecosystems; Regional Integration; AfCFTA.
CORRESPONDENCE TO Emmanuel Mogaji e.mogaji@keele.ac.uk
© 2026 The Author(s). Published by Transformative Transport Services Design Initiative (TRATSEDI). This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.