An Evaluation of West and Central African Ports to Serve as a Hub on the Gulf of Guinea Container Ports Range

Abstract

The level of competitions among ports keep increasing as port worldwide keep upgrading and expanding their port infrastructures so as to capture the greater share of the market. Every continent phases these competitions. This phenomenon is more prominent in developed countries where ports do not only compete among regional ports but also compete with other ports within the same country such as in America, some European countries and part of Asia like in China. However, the situation is a bit different when it comes to African ports. Most African ports have poor infrastructures and limited technological investments and so port competitions in the African continent cannot be compared with that of the western ports. Despite these setbacks, there is a significant amount of competition among these African ports, especially on a regional basis. The aim of this paper is to determine which port can serve as a hub port between the West and Central African ports along the Gulf of Guinea. The method that will be used to evaluate these ports will be a port indexing method. This method considers different indices for port evaluation to determine the most suitable port. The port of Tema appeared as the most suitable port to serve as a hub port.