Why Does cargo spend weeks in African ports? The case of Douala, Cameroon

Refas, Salim; Cantens, Thomas

doi:10.1596/1813-9450-5565

Cited by 13 publications

(13 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The port of Douala, Cameroon is located on the west coast of Central-West Africa and has a moderate drought of 11 m. It is considered a hub port for Central Africa as it serves neighboring landlocked countries such as the Central African Republic, Chad, and Northern Congo [4]. Douala port controls about 90% of total seaborne traffic into and out of the country.…”

Section: Data Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Such countries include Cameroon, Morocco, Egypt, South Africa, Togo, Djibouti, Nigeria, and Mauritania. However, prior studies [4] provide substantial literature to show how some of these ports, especially those located in sub-Saharan and Central Africa, are the most inefficient ports. UNCTAD [5] classified aspects of the cargo dwell time of the ports as an indicator of port performance, defined as the time between container discharge and exit from the port, which exceeds 21 days on average compared to less than a week in European ports.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Short Term Forecast of Container Throughput: New Variables Application for the Port of Douala

Awah

Nam

Kim

2021

JMSE

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An accurate container throughput forecast is vital for any port. Since overall improvements in port performance and competitiveness can be derailed by port bottlenecks, ports need to find leverage to identify and prioritize measures to improve weak key performance indicators (KPIs) to attain growth opportunities. Prior studies had modeled container throughput from socio-economic and growth projection factors. This study aims to provide a practical method for forecasting the optimal container throughput a port can physically handle/attract given a certain level of terminal operation efficiency through random forest (RF) and multilayer perceptron (MLP) models. The study variables are derived from the port operations dimension and include ship turnaround time, vessel draft, container dwell time, berth productivity, container storage capacity, and custom declaration time. Evaluations are made based on the R-squared, NRMSE, MAE and MAPE. Model comparison is deduced with seven competing models in container throughput forecasting. The findings indicate that the RF model is a potential candidate for forecasting the engineering optimal throughput of Douala port. Model interpretation is provided through feature importance and partial dependence plots. The findings from this study will help reduce uncertainty and provide leverage for port management to spot bottlenecks and engage in better port planning and development projects which will strengthen their international competitive advantage.

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Section: Data Descriptionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Short Term Forecast of Container Throughput: New Variables Application for the Port of Douala

Awah

Nam

Kim

2021

JMSE

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“…When the steady movement of goods is disrupted, pressure builds. Containers pile up inside African ports, where cargo dwell time is longer than anywhere else in the world (Refas and Cantens, 2011). African politicians and bureaucracies are, in turn, under pressure by international agencies to instigate reforms that will increase the amount of TEU that their ports can process (Chalfin, 2010; Stenmanns and Ouma, 2015).…”

Section: Opening the Container To Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…At both sites, the container may be opened to compare the content against the packing list and check for illegal and counterfeit goods. Customs clearance is particularly complicated for LCL shipments, for which there are numerous ways to define the value of the load and quantify import taxes (Refas and Cantens, 2011). The logistics agents often employ clearing agents to get the goods through customs in African ports.…”

Section: The Logistical Foundation For China−africa Exportmentioning

confidence: 99%

The social production of container space

Haugen

2019

Environ Plan D

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A sizable body of popular and academic literature explores how containers have reconstituted the spaces through which they travel. However, the space within containers remains largely unexamined. This article leverages the concepts of “earmarking” and “pressure” to analyze the space within containers as socially produced rather than arithmetically defined. The analysis draws upon an ethnographic study of container freight from China to Africa. Earmarking describes the practice of attaching segments of shipment space to specific sets of social relations, which in turn defines appropriate usage of the space and bestows it with economic value. African traders earmark space in containers shipped from China as a way to manage their capital in volatile economic environments. Logistics agents apply physical pressure to goods as they are loaded in containers in South China. The practice—made possible by the material characteristics of the container—disrupts the relationship between the container’s measurements and the shipment volumes sold, and generates asymmetries across modes of calculating space. Application of pressure renders the relation between containers and goods unstable and shipments vulnerable during customs inspections. Opening the container space for analysis reveals how China’s successful logistics integration with Africa relies heavily on political tolerance for disorder and localized solutions.

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“…PELINDO I is engaged in container and export loading and unloading The problem that often occurs in container terminals in Indonesia is the length of container dwelling time. Dwelling time is the length of time calculated since the goods are unloaded from the ship to the goods out of port [1].According to the Director General of Customs and Excise dwelling Time is the process needed since goods are dropped from ships or goods are piled up until the goods leave the port [2]. Dwelling time is the length of time calculated from the time the goods are unloaded from the ship to the goods out of the port (world bank, 2011).Dwelling time imports in the BICT reached 4.17 days (100.08) hours in 2017.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Lean Technology Implementation For Reducing The Dwelling Time Level

Gunawan¹,

Matondang²,

Sembiring³

2020

Proceedings of the Proceedings of the 1st International Conference of Global Education and Society Science, ICOGESS 2019,14 Mar

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The high time of port services has resulted in high logistics costs. This is not in accordance with the government's expectations. One way to overcome this can be done through lean technology. Lean focuses on identifying and eliminating non-value added activities in design, production (for manufacturing) or operations (for services) and supply chain management that is directly related to customers.From research on the import service process at BICT port using big picture mapping and process activity mapping, it is known that activities that can be eliminated or reduced are administrative activity and waiting. Non value added and necessary non value added activities decreased from 2370 seconds (74%)% to 878 seconds (50%). While the percentage of value added increased from 27% to 50%. Import dwelling time can be reduced from 72 hours 53 minutes 46 seconds to 24 hours 28 minutes 54 seconds.

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Why Does cargo spend weeks in African ports? The case of Douala, Cameroon

Cited by 13 publications

References 4 publications

Short Term Forecast of Container Throughput: New Variables Application for the Port of Douala

Short Term Forecast of Container Throughput: New Variables Application for the Port of Douala

The social production of container space

Lean Technology Implementation For Reducing The Dwelling Time Level

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