CMA CGM group opens its first regional office for Africa in Abidjan
This initiative follows a pivotal 2025, when the Far East-West Africa trade corridor became the world's fastest-growing shipping route, with a 30% volume surge.
The CMA CGM Group, a global leader in sea, land, and air logistics, has announced a substantial restructuring of its African maritime operations in response to escalating demand. This initiative follows a pivotal year in 2025, during which the Far East-West Africa trade corridor was established as the world's most rapidly expanding shipping route, registering a 30% surge in volume.
The group currently operates a network that includes 91 offices across 54 African nations, 3,400 staff members dedicated to regional operations, and 33 maritime services calling at more than 80 ports.
To accommodate the surge in trade and improve schedule reliability, CMA CGM is reorganising its West Africa Express (WAX) service into three dedicated loops, effective late March 2026. This triple loop strategy is designed to offer more stable frequency and reduced transit times between Asia and West Africa’s central range.
The updated maritime offering introduces three key services: WAX1 & WAX2, EURAF, and MIDAS 1. WAX1 & WAX2 are new, dedicated loops that directly link major Asian hubs, including Qingdao, Ningbo, and Singapore, to key African ports like Abidjan, Lekki, and Kribi.
The EURAF (Europe-Africa) service provides weekly connections between Northern Europe, the Mediterranean, and Atlantic markets to West and Central Africa. Finally, MIDAS 1 is a specialised weekly service that bridges West Africa with India and the Middle East, connecting ports such as Pointe-Noire and Tema to hubs in Jebel Ali and Mundra.
CMA CGM currently holds strategic investments in eight container terminals across the continent, spanning Nigeria (Lekki), Côte d’Ivoire (Abidjan), Cameroon (Kribi), Mauritania (Nouakchott and Nouadhibou), and Morocco (Tangier, Casablanca, and Nador).
