Assessing the Port Choice Behaviors of Shippers in Sub-Saharan Africa and China

The port choice is crucial in decision-making during cargo shipment, which depends on the port’s competitiveness and efficiency. This study compared the port selection factors of sub-Saharan Africa in Nigeria and Uganda to China. After analyzing the collected questionnaire with a partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) model, the necessary strategies were established by comparing countries with importance-performance analysis (IPMA). First, the existing importance and analysis chart (IPMA) developed the ‘urgency index’ using the weighted average Euclidean distance and applied it to establish a strategy based on the ranking of port selection factors. This study found that the difference in evaluation by factor was clear depending on whether the port selection factor was a coastal or inland country, not a difference in economic development or port development level by country. Second, while Nigerian shippers prioritize software factors of operating characteristics, Ugandan shippers focus on more hardware port facilities or ship ports. Third, the factors of customs clearance, rapid response to customer needs, port quality, and safety and security differ significantly in the surveyed. They were representative factors that were high in importance and performance for Nigerian shippers but low in importance and performance for Ugandan shippers. However, Chinese shippers evaluated them as having high importance in terms of port quality, safety, and security factors, but their performance could have been higher. Finally, the urgency index also clearly calculated the urgency and strategic priorities, especially for factors near the boundary between the quadrants of the importance-performance matrix. The study presented the necessary implications and strategies to shipping and port companies, international institutions, trading companies, port authorities, and governments of the selected countries. Although this study evaluated the port selection characteristics of sub-Saharan shippers, it is also different from previous studies, so additional verification studies for generalization are needed to determine whether these differences are due to time differences or other causes.