Globalization, Transportation and Marketing of Goods Made in Africa: The New Paradigm

Abstract Globalization has brought compelling changes to the world transport systems and ways through which domestic goods are marketed. The main objective of this research is to determine the effect of globalization and transport mode on the marketing of goods made in Africa and the difference in consumer choice for imported products and domestic goods. A 10-item validated structured questionnaire was administered to 300 civil servants of selected parastatals from five states in Nigeria. The feedback statistics showed that a total number of 280 (93.3%) questionnaires were retrieved and 20 (6.7%) were rejected. The results obtained were subjected to analytical procedures of correlation and multiple regression. The study used clothing as research sample to test the effect of globalization and transportation mode on consumer preference for imports over local products and vice-versa. It was found that globalization and chosen transportation mode have a significant effect on marketing of goods made in Africa and on consumer preference. The resultant effects were numerous including capital flight, development of new markets, transport-induced costs, etc. The study recommends governments in Africa to re-orient the African population to appreciate and patronize domestic goods, and implement appropriate modern transportation systems, and ICT tools to promote domestic goods.