The Strait of Hormuz is under pressure again.

Tensions between the US and Iran are disrupting one of the most critical shipping corridors in the world. Roughly 20% of global oil and a significant share of container traffic moves through that narrow stretch of water.

And yet — trade will not stop.

We saw this play out before.

When Houthi attacks escalated in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in 2024, everyone predicted a shipping crisis. Instead, carriers rerouted around the Cape of Good Hope. Longer voyage times. Higher freight costs. But cargo kept moving.

That's the thing about international trade. It doesn't break. It reroutes.

The same logic is playing out now with Hormuz. Shippers are already stress-testing alternative corridors. Insurers are repricing risk. And quietly, the economics of longer African routes are starting to make more sense — not because they're cheap, but because they're predictable.

This matters beyond shipping.

Every time a major trade route becomes less reliable, the infrastructure and markets along alternative corridors gain relevance. West African ports — Tema, Dakar, Abidjan — are sitting along one of the most used alternative routes on the planet. They're not the destination in most of these conversations. But they're increasingly part of the route, and that changes things.

More vessel traffic means more fuel stops, more logistics activity, more regional procurement. It also means more manufacturers and suppliers are paying attention to these markets in ways they weren't three years ago.

I'm not saying West Africa is becoming the new center of global trade. That would be a stretch.

What I am saying is that the region is becoming harder to ignore — not because of potential, but because of geography and timing.

At SMRT, we're seeing this shift in the conversations we're having on the ground. Companies that were "considering Africa in two years" are starting to ask more serious questions today.

Disruption has a way of accelerating decisions.