Bottlenecks in the Freight Forwarding sector in West - coast Africa (original) (raw)
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Analysis of transport logistics challenges affecting freight forwarding operations in Malawi
Malawi is one of the landlocked countries within sub-Saharan Africa which faces serious challenges in managing her transport logistics. The provision of predictable, reliable and cost effective transport logistics is constrained due to deficiencies in road and rail infrastructure, inefficient port and transit border operations that contribute to very high transport cost. This study was undertaken to analyse the challenges facing the transport logistics industry in sub-Saharan Africa specifically Malawi. Data was solicited from a structured questionnaire that was circulated to purposely selected members from the population of the business community with expertise in transport logistics. Results from the study are also supported by literature and indicated tha t high transport cost, deficiencies in road and rail infrastructure, inefficient port and transit border delays pose serious challenges to transport logistics.
Consequences of Port Congestion on Logistics and Supply Chain in African Ports
Developing Country Studies, 2015
Congestion in ports is a phenomena associated with delays, queuing and extra time of voyage and dwell of ships and cargo at the port, which always occur with unpleasant consequences on Logistics and supply chain. These often translates into extra costs, loss of trade and disruption of trade and transport agreements. In a study to identify the consequences of port congestion on Logistics and supply chain operations in some African ports, this paper has examined the common port congestion scenarios, their dimensions and the various factors that trigger congestion in the ports of Lagos, Durban, Mombasa and the catchment ports of the Suez canal. This paper typically applied the concept of variations in turnaround time of ships and cargo vis-à-vis the port's capacity and relative efficiency level in order to identify the active factors that cause port congestion in African ports. The results provided some explanations on the consequences arising from these on notable African logistics and supply chain networks. The findings revealed that the bane of congestion in African ports emanates entirely from either planning, Regulation, capacity, efficiency or a combination of these. This paper therefore recommends that African ports should enhance their regulatory mechanisms, then to improve capacity and efficiency level in order to shoulder the ever increasing challenges of port congestion in years ahead.
Congestion in ports is a phenomena associated with delays, queuing and extra time of voyage and dwell of ships and cargo at the port, which always occur with unpleasant consequences on Logistics and supply chain. These often translates into extra costs, loss of trade and disruption of trade and transport agreements. In a study to identify the consequences of port congestion on Logistics and supply chain operations in some African ports, this paper has examined the common port congestion scenarios, their dimensions and the various factors that trigger congestion in the ports of Lagos, Durban, Mombasa and the catchment ports of the Suez canal. This paper typically applied the concept of variations in turnaround time of ships and cargo vis-à-vis the port's capacity and relative efficiency level in order to identify the active factors that cause port congestion in African ports. The results provided some explanations on the consequences arising from these on notable African logistics and supply chain networks. The findings revealed that the bane of congestion in African ports emanates entirely from either planning, Regulation, capacity, efficiency or a combination of these. This paper therefore recommends that African ports should enhance their regulatory mechanisms, then to improve capacity and efficiency level in order to shoulder the ever increasing challenges of port congestion in years ahead.
A Benchmark Study of Shipping & Cargo Throughput in West and Central Africa
International Affairs and Global Strategy, 2013
The work analyzed trade flows for major commodity groups in the West and Central Africa sub region with view to creating a trade hub for the region. Direction of trade and major export commodities in the region were identified and analyzed with a view to determining the pattern of trade flow in the region. A trend flow analysis of the import and export trade flows were analyzed and major trade hubs identified using several analytical methods including principal component analysis, trend analysis and other economic tools. Three major coastal ports situated along the West and Central Africa coast were analysed in terms of their varying suitability for a trade hub if eventually chosen as a trade hub. These analyses were further extended to identify most centrally located ports in the region in terms of both distance and cargo throughput.
The role of national trade logistics in the export trade of African countries
Journal of Transport and Supply Chain Management, 2019
Background: This article critically examines the role of trade logistics in the exports of African countries. The performance of the trade logistics of African countries was analysed using the World Bank logistics performance index (LPI) and its components. The study was conducted based on the performance statistics of countries around the world in 2016. Objectives: The aim of this study was to identify African countries' inefficient trade logistics areas based on LPI components for future improvement; and to investigate the relevance of trade logistics performance of African countries on export values in order to boost the region's merchandise export share in the global market. Method: The methodological approach employed in this study is a combination of both descriptive and inferential data analysis. The African countries' logistics performance in international trade was summarised using LPI median values. The effect of the performance of trade logistics on exports was explored based on a gravity model of international trade. For the estimation, the Heckman selection approach was applied to incorporate zero bilateral trades. Results: On average, African countries experience the lowest LPI score, particularly in terms of quality of trade and transport-related infrastructure, and customs and border clearance. A successful improvement in these areas would enhance African countries' supply chain deliveries including on-time delivery, tracking and tracing and international shipments in cross-border transactions. Conclusion: The evidence from the gravity model estimates of this study suggests that an improvement in any of the LPI components can lead to significant growth in the export of African countries. This could then increase the African merchandise export share in global trade. The gravity model results also show that landlocked countries have lower trade flows than their coastal neighbours.
2020
Freight forwarding plays a significant role in processing of documents and forwarding of consignment at any seaport or customs station. Unfortunately, this profession has not been executed with high level of professionalism with series of unprofessional ethics. Therefore this study examined the major factors influencing the profession of freight forwarding practices and the effect of cargo diversion on profit margin for the services of freight forwarders.This paper used primary data from field survey using questionnaire as instrument. Inferential statistics was used to analyse the collected data. The result showed that fraudulent practices, government policy, changes in tariff are all the factors that affect the freight forwarding business thus leading to diversion of cargo to other neigbhouring countries which in turn affect the profit margin and shipper"s financial constraints also mar the business of freight forwarding making it unproductive and not lucrative for people to patronize.The study therefore, concluded that freight forwarding system should incorporate management information systems in their daily transactions to enhance transparency and efficiency with the support of Port Authorities and Terminal operators. It was recommended that government should set up a very reasonable monitoring unit to ensure that freight forwarders observe certain minimum standards, which is to sanitize the practices of forwarding activities. Also, policy inconsistency should be addressed by the government.
The choice of transportation is invariably based on distance, time taken, and cost of reaching each destination by different modes of transport. The distance is also considered from the speed perspective and movement time; while the volume of carriage and flexibility of mode is also important factors in freight flow. However, shipping logistics can be influenced by the port processing speed, number of vehicles (trucks and trailers) at the port, rail and road networks. Shippers tend to assess all aforementioned factors in selection and processes of shipping logistics. Therefore, this paper assessed factors influencing and inhibiting freight flow in Nigerian shipping logistic with data collected from seven out of eight ICD concessionaires cum logistics companies using multiple regression analysis. Results from the analysis revealed that, number of vehicles loading at seaports and inadequacy of road network are not statistically significant. Timeliness in movement, volume of carriage, ...