Making the Most of Ports in West Africa

Making the Most of Ports in West Africa
Author: Weltbank
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2016
Genre:
ISBN:

Ports have always played an essential role in this highly trade-dependent region. While there are still wide disparities in terms of throughput volumes and capacity, traffic has been growing rapidly in most countries over the last decade. Overall, total throughput in West Africa grew from around 105 million tons in 2006 to 165 million tons in 2012. Likewise, containerized traffic remains limited in West Africa compared to other regions but has grown faster than in any other region in the world over the last five years. The combined throughput of container terminals in the region reached almost 5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2013, twice as much as a decade ago, and is expected to keep growing fast. The future throughput of West African ports comprises the demand for containerized trade generated by coastal and landlocked countries, and additional port movements generated by transshipment in regional hub(s). Given the regional dynamics of ports in West Africa, there is also a good case for more cooperation between West African countries on port reform, competition and regulation. Strengthening the capacity and mandate of regional institutions such as the ECOWAS Commission on these issues would complement regulatory efforts at the country level and provide a forum to analyze regional issues related to inter-port competition and private sector participation in port management.

Making the Most of Ports in West Africa

Making the Most of Ports in West Africa
Author: World Bank Group
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2016
Genre:
ISBN:

Ports have always played an essential role in this highly trade-dependent region. While there are still wide disparities in terms of throughput volumes and capacity, traffic has been growing rapidly in most countries over the last decade. Overall, total throughput in West Africa grew from around 105 million tons in 2006 to 165 million tons in 2012. Likewise, containerized traffic remains limited in West Africa compared to other regions but has grown faster than in any other region in the world over the last five years. The combined throughput of container terminals in the region reached almost 5 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) in 2013, twice as much as a decade ago, and is expected to keep growing fast. The future throughput of West African ports comprises the demand for containerized trade generated by coastal and landlocked countries, and additional port movements generated by transshipment in regional hub(s). Given the regional dynamics of ports in West Africa, there is also a good case for more cooperation between West African countries on port reform, competition and regulation. Strengthening the capacity and mandate of regional institutions such as the ECOWAS Commission on these issues would complement regulatory efforts at the country level and provide a forum to analyze regional issues related to inter-port competition and private sector participation in port management.

Why Does Cargo Spend Weeks in Sub-Saharan African Ports?

Why Does Cargo Spend Weeks in Sub-Saharan African Ports?
Author: Gael Raballand
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 165
Release: 2012-04-19
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0821394991

Sub-Saharan Africa has a serious infrastructure deficit—estimated at about $48 billion a year—which is impeding the continent's competitiveness and hence its economic growth. How to solve this problem? Some advocate building more infrastructure while others suggest privatizing, or contracting out to the private sector, the management of infrastructure so that the discipline of the market will lead to more and better quality services. This book graphically illustrates the problem in the case of Africa's ports. With the exception of Durban, cargo dwell times—the amount of time cargo spends in the port—average about 20 days in African ports, compared with 3-4 days in most other international ports. None of the past attempts to solve this problem have worked. The reason—and this is the major contribution of this volume—is that long dwell times are in the interest of certain public and private actors in the system. Importers use the ports to store their goods. Customs brokers have little incentive to move the goods because they can pass on the costs of delay to the importers. And when the domestic market is a monopoly, the downstream producer has an incentive to keep the cargo dwell times long as a way of deterring entry of other producers. The net result is inordinately long dwell times, ineffective interventions, and globally uncompetitive industries in African countries. The solution to decrease dwell time in these ports relies mainly on the challenging task of breaking the private sector's collusion and equilibrium between public authorities, logistics operators, and some shippers and not on investing massively in infrastructure. Addressing the challenge will also require that there be political support from the general public for reforms that will promote their interests. And before they offer their political support, the public needs to be informed. This book is a step in that direction.

African Seaports and Maritime Economics in Historical Perspective

African Seaports and Maritime Economics in Historical Perspective
Author: Ayodeji Olukoju
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 253
Release: 2020-07-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3030413993

This book updates African maritime economic history to analyse the influence of seaports and seaborne trade, processes of urbanization and development, and the impact of globalization on port evolution within the different regions of Africa. It succeeds the seminal collection edited by Hoyle & Hilling which was conceived during a phase of sustained economic growth on the African continent, and builds on a similar trend where African economies have experienced processes of economic growth and the relative improvement of welfare conditions. It provides valuable insights on port evolution and the way the maritime sector has impacted the hinterland and the regional economic structures of the affected countries, including the several and varied agents involved in these activities. African Seaports and Maritime Economics in Historical Perspective will be useful for economists, historians, and geographers interested in African and maritime issues, as well as policy makers interested in path-dependence and long-term analysis

Boundaries, Communities and State-Making in West Africa

Boundaries, Communities and State-Making in West Africa
Author: Paul Nugent
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 637
Release: 2019-06-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 1107020689

By examining three centuries of history, this book shows how vital border regions have been in shaping states and social contracts.

Africa's Infrastructure

Africa's Infrastructure
Author: World Bank
Publisher: World Bank Publications
Total Pages: 386
Release: 2009-12-01
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0821380834

Sustainable infrastructure development is vital for Africa s prosperity. And now is the time to begin the transformation. This volume is the culmination of an unprecedented effort to document, analyze, and interpret the full extent of the challenge in developing Sub-Saharan Africa s infrastructure sectors. As a result, it represents the most comprehensive reference currently available on infrastructure in the region. The book covers the five main economic infrastructure sectors information and communication technology, irrigation, power, transport, and water and sanitation. 'Africa s Infrastructure: A Time for Transformation' reflects the collaboration of a wide array of African regional institutions and development partners under the auspices of the Infrastructure Consortium for Africa. It presents the findings of the Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD), a project launched following a commitment in 2005 by the international community (after the G8 summit at Gleneagles, Scotland) to scale up financial support for infrastructure development in Africa. The lack of reliable information in this area made it difficult to evaluate the success of past interventions, prioritize current allocations, and provide benchmarks for measuring future progress, hence the need for the AICD. Africa s infrastructure sectors lag well behind those of the rest of the world, and the gap is widening. Some of the main policy-relevant findings highlighted in the book include the following: infrastructure in the region is exceptionally expensive, with tariffs being many times higher than those found elsewhere. Inadequate and expensive infrastructure is retarding growth by 2 percentage points each year. Solving the problem will cost over US$90 billion per year, which is more than twice what is being spent in Africa today. However, money alone is not the answer. Prudent policies, wise management, and sound maintenance can improve efficiency, thereby stretching the infrastructure dollar. There is the potential to recover an additional US$17 billion a year from within the existing infrastructure resource envelope simply by improving efficiency. For example, improved revenue collection and utility management could generate US$3.3 billion per year. Regional power trade could reduce annual costs by US$2 billion. And deregulating the trucking industry could reduce freight costs by one-half. So, raising more funds without also tackling inefficiencies would be like pouring water into a leaking bucket. Finally, the power sector and fragile states represent particular challenges. Even if every efficiency in every infrastructure sector could be captured, a substantial funding gap of $31 billion a year would remain. Nevertheless, the African people and economies cannot wait any longer. Now is the time to begin the transformation to sustainable development.

Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400–1800

Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400–1800
Author: John Thornton
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 483
Release: 1998-04-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 113964338X

This book explores Africa's involvement in the Atlantic world from the fifteenth century to the eighteenth century. It focuses especially on the causes and consequences of the slave trade, in Africa, in Europe, and in the New World. African institutions, political events, and economic structures shaped Africa's voluntary involvement in the Atlantic arena before 1680. Africa's economic and military strength gave African elites the capacity to determine how trade with Europe developed. Thornton examines the dynamics of colonization which made slaves so necessary to European colonizers, and he explains why African slaves were placed in roles of central significance. Estate structure and demography affected the capacity of slaves to form a self-sustaining society and behave as cultural actors, transferring and transforming African culture in the New World.

The Blue Economy in Sub-Saharan Africa

The Blue Economy in Sub-Saharan Africa
Author: DONALD SPARKS
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2021-06-16
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000400328

The blue economy, comprising coastal and marine resources, offers vast benefits for sub-Saharan Africa: of the 53 countries and territories in the region, 32 are coastal states; there are 13 million sq km of maritime zones; more than 90% of the region’s exports and imports come by sea; and the African Union hails the blue economy as the ‘new frontier of African renaissance’. Despite their importance, the region’s coastal and marine resources have been neither fully appreciated nor fully utilized. They are only now being recognized as being key to Africa’s potential prosperity. As the region grows, it has, in general, not taken adequate safeguards to protect these valuable resources. That is partly because some of the problems (pollution, for example) are regional and know no borders. All too often, short-term gains are made at the expense of the long term (overfishing, for example). This book provides, for the first time, a study of the constraints and opportunities the blue economy offers for sub-Saharan Africa. It includes an introduction and overview; sectoral analyses (including tourism, fisheries, mineral resources, culture, shipping and maritime safety); country case studies; and analyses of regional and international efforts towards better coastal zone and marine management.

Transnational Organized Crime in East Asia and the Pacific

Transnational Organized Crime in East Asia and the Pacific
Author:
Publisher: UN
Total Pages: 196
Release: 2013
Genre: Political Science
ISBN:

Human trafficking and smuggling of migrants: Four of the 12 illicit flows reviewed in this report involve human beings. The first two concern movement between the countries of the region, one for general labour and one for sexual exploitation. The third concerns the smuggling of migrants from the region to the rich countries of the West, and the last focuses on migrants smuggled through the region from the poor and conflicted countries of South and Southwest Asia. Drug trafficking: The production and use of opiates has a long history in the region, but the main opiate problem in the 21st century involves the more refined form of the drug: heroin. In addition, methamphetamine has been a threat in parts of East Asia for decades (in the form of yaba tablets), but crystal methamphetamine has recently grown greatly in popularity. Virtually every country in the region has some crystal methamphetamine users, and some populations consume at very high levels.Resources: Resource-related crimes include those related to both extractive industries, such as the illegal harvesting of wildlife and timber, and other crimes that have a negative impact on the environment, such as the dumping of e-waste and the trade in ozone-depleting substances. In all cases, the threat goes beyond borders, jeopardizing the global environmental heritage. These are therefore crimes of inherent international significance, though they are frequently dealt with lightly under local legislation.Counterfeit goods: The trade in counterfeit goods is often perceived as a "soft" form of crime, but can have dangerous consequences for public health and safety. Fraudulent medicines in particular pose a threat to public health, and their use can foster the growth of treatment resistant pathogens.