Ports In West Africa Research Articles

Measuring West-Africa Ports Efficiency Using Data Envelopment Analysis

The present study measured the relative efficiency of five major commercial ports in West Africa, using three different Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methods, the CCR, BCC, and Windows I-C methods over the years 2005-2016. Seven input variables and one output variable were used in the model analysis. The CCR and BCC methods were used to evaluate the technical and scale efficiency while the Windows I-C method provided a comprehensive ranking of the studied ports. The results showed that the scale efficiency score of 89.53% indicated that on average the production scale of the ports had deviated from the most productive scale size (MPSS) by 10.47%. These results revealed that the source of the overall inefficiency is due to scale rather than pure technical inefficiency. Hence, in order to improve the overall efficiency, the two scaled inefficient ports of Abidjan and Cotonou should adjust their scale of operations. Then, further investigations were conducted to detect correlations between various variables used in this study. The research found that the absence of any correlation for non-significant variables and negative correlation for the significant variables throughout time resulted from the fact that these variables were not fully utilized. Meaning that they were not efficiently used to boost the container throughput on a scale basis, the research also found that a pandemic or insecurity could easily impact seaports activities with the case of the Ebola outbreak which strucked the West African region from the year 2013 to 2016, or the terrorism threats which prevailed in the region around the year 2012. Thus, for ports to stand out in the present fiercely competitive environment, ports authorities ought to analyze their operational scale to identify whether or not the production size is fitting before further port capacity expansion.

Strategic Container Ports Competitiveness Analysis in West Africa Using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) Model

This study presents a competitiveness analysis of five strategic container ports in West Africa using the DEA model Windows I-C method. This method takes into account the different changes in these ports efficiency and performance using a window length of 3 over the years 2005 to 2016. The model is used to provide a ranking of the efficient strategic ports in the region. Efficient ports promote trade growth by empowering a country’s imports and exports. The ranking and competitiveness of a port are evaluated based on its efficiency compared to others in its group. From the one output and the seven input variables selected, the results reveal the port of Tema to be the most competitive in the West Africa with 95% production average efficiency score, then followed respectively by Lagos, Abidjan, Lomé and Cotonou port.

Determinants of Inter-port Competition: A Case of Coastal Ports in West Africa

Determinants of Inter-port Competition: A Case of Coastal Ports in West Africa

The Attractiveness of Ports in West Africa: Some Lessons from Shipping Lines' Port Selection

AbstractThis paper investigates the attractiveness of ports in West Africa through the development of a container shipping lines' port choice methodology. Although many multi‐criteria decision‐making methods have been developed and applied to facilitate a rational port choice process, few have investigated the criteria used by shipping lines when selecting ports in West Africa. With the rapid economic development of West Africa, the task of establishing a rational model to guide shipping lines to choose their favourite ports in the region becomes urgent. In this work, 16 criteria are identified to assist shipping lines in port choice from four perspectives including adequate infrastructure, port location, port charge, and port administration/port efficiency. In order to quantitatively evaluate these criteria, an analytical hierarchy process approach is used to make use of subjective judgements to compensate the incompleteness of objective data. One of the important findings from this study is that port infrastructure is the most crucial criterion in terms of the port attractiveness in West Africa. It is followed by port draught, political stability, market size/cargo volume, and international networks. The research outcomes also indicate that the port of Abidjan is the most attractive container port in West Africa, followed by Dakar when all the identified important criteria are taken into account.

Assessment of Port Efficiency in West Africa Using Data Envelopment Analysis

The aim of this paper is to apply the DEA method in assessing efficiencies of major ports in West Africa. Six ports were selected based on their container throughput levels, and the DEA model was used to determine their relative efficiencies and their efficiencies over time through window analysis. The DEA model was applied to a number of inputs of port production and a single output (container throughput). It was determined that the Port of Tema in Ghana was the most efficient West African port under study. Although Tema exhibited some inefficiency in its operations, the port was found to make good use of its resources for production. On the other extreme, the Port of Cotonou in Benin was found to be the least efficient port obtaining the lowest average efficiency rating over a seven year period. It was determined that the port exhibited a substantial waste in production. Generally, ports in West Africa could be said to exhibit high levels of efficiency con-sidering that four out of six ports had an average efficiency score of 76% or higher for the period under study.

West Africa in the Atlantic Community: The Case of the Slave Coast

T SHE section of the West African coast known to Europeans as the was, as the name implies, a major source for the transatlantic slave trade between the seventeenth and nineteenth centuries. The two principal ports of embarkation for slaves in the region were Ouidah and Lagos.1 The history of Slave Coast ports such as Ouidah and Lagos cannot be understood or adequately represented in isolation, since they were involved in wider regional and transatlantic networks. Within Africa, the operation of the slave trade linked the coastal ports not only to the countries in the interior that supplied slaves to the coast but also to one another, especially through the coastal lagoon system, along which slaves were commonly moved from port to port prior to embarkation.2 Across the Atlantic, the commercial links established by the slave trade among ports in West Africa, America, and Europe are well known, but the trade also generated transatlantic social and cultural connections whose importance has been commonly underestimated. The scale and intensity of these bonds were such that the coastal communities of the Slave Coast, or at least their commercial and ruling elites, may be considered as participating in what can reasonably be termed an Atlantic community. The degree of involvement in this