"What are the enabling factors for maritime capacity enhancement within East and Southern Africa?" East and Southern Africa now stand at a pivotal moment. The accelerating growth of its consumer class is rapidly increasing the demand for imported goods and, hence, the need for improvements in containerized cargo transport services that would allow delivering the goods efficiently and at minimum cost. This expected growth will additionally require not only new infrastructure on both the maritime and landside, but also (1) policy reforms, (2) the greater use of specialized private operators, and (3) the leveraging of private investment, both to deliver transport infrastructure and to ensure its efficient use. This Overview of a World Bank Group book assesses the capacity expansion needs of the fifteen main ports in East and Southern Africa within the context of these broader global and regional trends. In doing so, it provides detailed policy recommendations for each of the ports regarding the needed port and access infrastructure, the port sector regulations, and the institutional and management approaches to port operation and development. This is a condensed overview of the World Bank Group book, Port Development and Competition in East and Southern Africa: Prospects and Challenges. To read the full book, please click here.