Assessment of Container Terminal Operations in South-Western Ports in Nigeria (Published)
Containers, a global maritime trade influencer, have increased the importance of ports. Ports serve as an economic catalyst for revenue and employment. The importance of container transport cannot be overemphasized in international trade especially in Nigeria. Hence, it becomes expedients to assess the elements of container terminal capacity, analyse the trend of cargo throughput and as well determine the relationship between handling equipment and cargo dwell time in Western ports in Nigeria. The study adopts multistage sampling. Also, both primary and secondary data were collected from the staff of the container terminal operators in Tincan Island Port Complex and Apapa Port Complex and 347 respondents were chosen using Yamene formular. Furthermore, Descriptive statistics such as frequency table, line graph, bar charts were used to examine the elements of container terminal capacity, analyse the trend of cargo throughput. The inferential statistics such as regression analysis was used examines the relationship between thandling equipment and cargo dwell time. The result showed a decline in cargo throughput from 2019 to 2020, a trend that can be directly attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, it was shown that the coefficient of handling equipment is 0.725, indicating that for every unit increase in the handling equipment score, the cargo dwell time increases by 0.725 units. The t-value of 21.558 and a significance level of 0.000 signify that the handling equipment is a significant predictor of cargo dwell time. Based on the findings of the study, it was concluded that terminal space, handling equipment, daily stock and port labour were significant factors or elements of container terminal capacity. It was recommended that Nigerian Ports Authority should invest more on sustainable infrastructure and terminal operators and stevedoring company should train and retrain their staff on modern handling equipment.
Keywords: Cargo throughput, Container, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), container terminal, shipping, terminal operators
Scenario Analysis of Aggregate Model of ECOWAS Freight Transport Volumes: An Imperative for Adoption of Short Sea Shipping (Published)
This paper shows the effect of changes in GDP, population, foreign trade and seaport access corridors of ECOWAS member countries, especially the littoral States, on the growth of freight volumes of their respective economies. The aim of the paper is to recommend a short sea shipping model for the ECOWAS sub-region, to reduce the cost per transported unit within the sub-region and predict the growth of short sea shipping freight in ECOWAS economies. The research is based on cross-sectional data from ECOWAS countries spanning from 2000 to 2013 and sourced from the ECOWAS Commission and National Bureaus of Statistics of some member countries. The research also showed that the development of short sea shipping model in the sub-region would depend considerably on growth in GDP, improvement in the productivity of the population and increase in seaport corridors of the ECOWAS sub-region. This model provides a useful framework for forecasting short-sea shipping freight for the ECOWAS sub-region. Despite the ECOWAS efforts at promoting policies to encourage intra-regional cooperation based on its advantages in terms of energy efficiency, improved intermodality and environmental safety, short sea shipping remains undeveloped compared to road transport mode. The paper concludes that funding opportunities in the sub-region have not offered the right incentives and support to promote short sea shipping. Some critical factors such as the crucial role of port infrastructure and its characteristics have not been taken into full consideration by transport policymakers in the sub-region. This paper suggests the need for ECOWAS member states to prioritise investment in the development of short sea shipping capacity, including the supportive port infrastructure as well as improvement of the entire transport system efficiency.