Environmental reform of West and Central Africa ports: the influence of colonial legacies

Figures & data

Table 1. Overview of environmental issues for WCA ports.

Port area generated			Shipping generated
Water	Air	Soil
Rainwater Port garbage Industrial effluent Municipal waste Washing water from warehouses/workshops Runoff from wharves, stockpile of bulk cargo as manganese, bauxite, manganese, iron ore, shea-butter, etc.	Industrial emissions Odour Ship blasting Trucks/cargo handling equipment emissions Dust from bulk cargo as manganese, bauxite,iron ore, wheat, clinker, etc.	Oil spill/leakage from tank farms Chemical spills Dredged material Port garbage Washing water from terminals Pipeline punctures Sewage overflow	Ships’ wastes Ballast water Oil spill Antifouling Hazardous waste Accidental collision Ships’ emissions

Figure 1. The West and Central Africa coastline showing the four ports studied.

Table 2. Port characteristics.

Characteristics	French-model ports		British-model ports
	Abidjan	Douala	Lagos	Tema
National politico-administrative system	Centralized port planning	Hierarchical port planning	Decentralized port planning	Decentralized port planning
Management model	Landlord	Landlord	Landlord	Hybrid
Size	34 Berths 888.9 m long^a; 13.5 m draft; 25 ha total area^a; 143.5 m^2 closed storage; 407.6 m^2 open storage	11 Berths 507.8 m long^a, 8.5 m draft; 21 ha total area^a; 58,000 m^2 closed storage; 380,000 m^2 open storage	43 Berths 4221.5 m long^a, 10.5 m draft; 240 ha total area^a; closed and open storage: no data	13 Berths 2413 m long^a, 11.5 m draft; 25 ha total area^a; 25,049 m^2 closed storage; 77,200 m^2 open storage
Total container traffic 2006–2011 (TEUs)	3291.037^b	1577.4 ^b	5,498.347 ^b	3003.2^b
Cargo throughput 2006–2014 (tonnes)	–^c	–^c	180,927,335	83,770,685
Vessel calls 2006–2014 (units)	–^c	–^c	13,124	16,634
Total export 2006–2014 (tonnes)	–^c	–^c	10,039,411	12,442,288
Total import 2006–2014 (tonnes)	–^c	–^c	161,279,407	57,324,575
Specialized Facilities	Timber, fruits, fish, offshore tanker mooring	Timber, fruits, fish, bauxite, petroleum	Wheat, fish, petroleum	Alumina, fruits, fish, petroleum
Competing ports	Cotonou, Dakar, Lagos, Lomé, Tema	Calabar, Lagos, Port Harcourt	Abidjan, Cotonou, Douala, Tema	Abidjan, Cotonou, Lagos, Lomé
Concession year term	2003 for 15 years	2004 for 15 years	2006 for 25 years	2003–2004 for 20 years
Country international trade (%)	90%	95%	75%	70%
Landlocked transit	Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali	Chad, Central Africa Republic	Chad, Eastern Niger	Burkina Faso, Niger, Mali

Source: Authors’ own elaboration.

^a Trujilo et al. (2013).

^bMLTC/CATRAM (2013).

^cAll four ports were contacted for these data, but due to procedural reasons Abidjan and Douala could not provide them within the period of this study.

Table 3. Environmental reform dynamics in studied ports.

Environmental reform dynamics		French model ports		British model ports
		Abidjan (Ivory Coast)	Douala (Cameroon)	Lagos (Nigeria)	Tema (Ghana)
Changing role of the state	Approach	Centralized	Hierarchical	Flexible multiple institutions	Flexible co-management
	Environmental authority	Specialized environment unit; limited role for port authority	Environment committee; no formal role for port authority	Specialized environment unit; formal role for port authority with overlaps	Specialized environment unit; formal role for port authority
	State/non-state actors collaboration	State controlled collaboration; ad hoc parallel port authority and private economic actor collaboration alongside state	Inter-personal relations between port authority and private economic actors alongside state	Institutionalized collaboration between state, port authority, other states and multilateral bodies; parallel collaboration between port authority and private economic actors alongside state	Institutionalized collaboration between state, port authority, private economic actors, other states and multilateral bodies; parallel collaboration between state, port authority and private economic actors steered by the port authority alongside state
	Role for international actors	Multilateral bodies taking up roles	Ad hoc role for multilateral bodies	Other states and multilateral bodies taking up roles	Other states and multilateral bodies taking up roles
Economic actors and incentives	Economic actors (multinational terminal operators)	Reducing carbon emissions; increasing fuel-efficiency	Reducing fuel consumption; promoting recycling and reuse; vehicle access plan	Converting diesel cranes to electric with idle shutdown devices; reducing oil spill; recycling reused oil	Reducing carbon emissions and energy consumption; terminals and cranes fitted with energy efficiency lights; cargo equipment with idle shutdown devices
	Economic incentives	State instituted environmental taxes; free-market or direct charge system for ships’ wastes^a	State controlled free-market or direct charge system for ships’ wastes	Port authority initiated environmental levies; indirect fee for ships’ wastes	Port authority initiated indirect fee for ships’ wastes; rebate for frequent ships
Civil society organizations	Partnership	Incidental protests for environmental justice	Not observed	Not observed	Incidental protests for environmental compliance
	Globalized civil society support	International legal assistance and support	Not observed	Not observed	Local civil society
Environmental reform progress		Moderate	Limited	Fragmented	Progressive

Source: Authors’ own elaboration.

^aCurrently applies to garbage.