Port competition strategy: Abidjan vs Tema

Abidjan port is nearer to the trade routes of most of trading partners than Tema port, the nearest port. The transit times between West Africa to most of the trade destinations are shorter for Abidjan than for Tema. At the end of the day, this should give to Abidjan port an important geographical strength for it being chosen by shipping companies as a hub but the competing ports must be viewed from the exporters’ and importers’ perspectives. Indeed, the most important factors in the decision to select a port move around the various aspects of cost, service and the movement of cargoes. In order to address the aforementioned issues, Abidjan Port Authority and Ghana Port and Harbours Authoriry are planning and leading some major strategic projects:

1. Costs: Competitive costs and low freight rates…

Abidjan port:Ferkessedougou inland port

Tema port: Boankra Inland port

2. Service: reliable, fast, good communication, low congestion and high number of sailings…

Abidjan Port: Second container terminal

Tema Port: Integrated warehousing

3. Movement of cargoes: rail and road access with good intermodal links…

Abidjan Port:Baie de vridi 1 & 2

Tema Port:Shippers centre’s

The strategic projects of Abidjan Port

• Ferkessedougou inland port

With an estimated cost of CFAF 300 billion, or € 457 million, the project will extend over 3,185 hectares and includes three components: an import-export terminal, an oil depot and a modern slaughterhouse with with a livestock market.

In addition to the supply of the hinterland, the infrastructure is going to facilitate the foreign trade of the countries of the hinterland which will be able to carry out their operations of import-export without having to make the long and expensive crossing until in Abidjan.

A financial and time gain which, will lead to some competitiveness points for Abidjan port, in competition with the other ports of the West African coast of the Atlantic, to attract the traffic from landlocked countries of the region. Moreover, it is for the government to create an important pole of development in the northern part of the country.

The inland port of Ferkessédougou is one of the major projects that the country intends to achieve by 2020

• The second containers terminal

Challenge: One container terminal,high cost of passage, low trans-shipment traffic, iimpossibility of receiving ships with more than 11, 5m of draft, ccapability saturation by 2020 (potential traffic of 3 million TEU against an existing capacity of 1.2 million TEUs).

Results: Have a second modern container terminal, improve the competitiveness of the port by reducing the cost of port passage, and significantly increase container traffic and especially container traffic in trans-shipment

·        Baie de vridi 1 & 2

Challenge: Traffic problems: transport costs, delivery times, accidents, etc.

Congestion of the port and port area

Expected Result: Decongest the port area

GPHA strategic projects in favor of Tema port

• Boankra Inland Port

The GSA in partnership with the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA) is working with the private sector to establish the Boankra Inland Port near Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.

This very important infrastructure would link the ports of Tema and Takoradi to the inner parts of the country and the landlocked countries of Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger. This is expected to be a free port that would combine unimodal and inter-modal operations aimed at easing congestion at Ghana seaports thus facilitating the transit trade of Ghana land-locked neighbors.

Some of the benefits to be derived from the establishment of the Boankra Inland Port include:

-Reduction in generalized transport cost of international cargo to importers and exporters from the middle and northern parts of Ghana, including the Sahel sub- region;

– Increased exportation of produce such as cola nuts, shea-butter, cocoa and cocoa products, wood and wood products;

– Promotion of the establishment of export processing zones in the vicinity of the inland port;

– To assist in the provision of up-to-date infrastructure to meet current developments and technological changes in the shipping industry

• Integrated Warehousing

The GSA has seven large warehouses in a prime location at the Tema port to provide warehousing facilities to shippers, especially shippers of landlocked countries transiting through the Tema port.

The vision is to provide quality warehousing services to shippers and to continuously ensure prompt delivery of services through the provision of cargo handling and haulage services to shippers to facilitate movement of goods.

The GSA has completed feasibility studies into a similar warehousing project at Buipe to take advantage of economic utilization of the vast resources of the Volta Lake

• Shippers Centre's

The GSA is commenced the construction of a Shippers Centres around the country. The first of such Centres dubbed the Takoradi Shippers Centre has been in operation in Takoradi since 2003.

The second Shippers Centre known as the Boankra Shippers Centre which is located in the Boankra Inland Port has also been completed.

The construction of the third Centre, dubbed Ghana Shippers House which is expected to house the GSA Head office has recently been completed and is in operation. This facility will also house a ship brokerage hall, which will create the medium for the creation of a freight market in Ghana. It is expected to be a Centre of maritime technology? linking the ports of Tema, Takoradi, the Kotoka International Airport as well as the Boankra Inland Port by Satellite.

In partial fulfillment of its plan to construct an office complex to serve shippers in the northern sector, the Authority has acquired some plots of land in Tamale for the construction of another Shippers Centre.

Despite these projects, Abidjan and Tema ports remain small public ports. What if they work together in cooperation for their mutual advantage? When will modern and vast container terminals able to be ranked among top worldwide ports appear in the West and Central Africa?