Assessment of Ports Competiveness in West and Central African Sub-Regions Using Priest Analytic Hierarchy Process: The Defies &Incompetence of the Port of Douala (Cameroon)

Ports play a fundamental role in a sustainable integration of Africa in International trade. Both importers and exporters, shipping companies and government, however face high cost for sea transport and substantial inefficiency in port operations. This has resulted in congestion, higher dwell time, higher costs which affect the competitive ability in sub regional and global economy. This study investigates the main factors explaining poor container handling operations and limited competitive ability in Cameroonian Ports and aggregating this to the competitive position of Cameroonian ports in the West and Central African sub-regions (WCA). Using Analytic Hierarchy Process (A.H.P), the paper seeks to provide a basic understanding of container transportation and port’s terminal operations problems (constraints & ineffectiveness) in Cameroon.

Evaluating the Competitive Position of Port of Douala in Central Africa Regional Ports Market Conduct Using the SSA

This paper aims to analyze the competitive position of Port of Douala in Central African ports market structure. In other words, it consists of measuring port market level and competitiveness through an assessment of their growth rate and market share. The purpose of the paper is to provide us with information on periodical changing status of ports competing with each other. It also provides us with an effective managerial tool to port operators in the assessment of ports market share and position. For doing so, the measurement technique as Shift-Share Analysis was applied in the study by using a panel dataset of the 7 selected ports of Central Africa sub-region from 2008 to 2018. The paper used the recent dynamics and characteristics of port market in terms of port throughputs to compare the yearly trend and market share. By conducting the study of the market growth rate model, the findings showed that the Port of Douala was the top leader of the market in 2009, 2015, 2016 and 2018. The findings also revealed the competitive positions of these ports under study have changed over the period of study due to the significant change of their market share with average growth rates. The final results showed that several determinant factors have affected the present hierarchy of competitiveness level in the selected ports market especially with small and medium size ports that are strengthening their positions vis-a-vis larger ones. However, the results could be used for analyzing the relative efficiency and overall performance of the Central African Sub-regional seaports including the Cameroonian ports.

耙吸式挖泥船在杜阿拉港航道维护疏浚的几点保障措施探讨

耙吸式挖泥船工效高,机动灵活,在航道维护中得到广泛应用。文章针对杜阿拉港航道灯标缺失、航道偏移及管理混乱的特殊施工环境,探讨了在港施工中的安全预控措施及围绕安全形势的技术保障措施,施工实践中证明了各种措施有效地保证了项目顺利推进。