Voices on Sustainable Ports in Africa

Stories from Tema Port, Ghana

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Abstract

Ports provide an essential link to the world market, enabling countries to trade their goods and strengthen their economies. However, the global and regional benefits of port developments do not always translate into benefits to local stakeholders. There is often a mismatch between the positive global and regional effects of port development and the impacts that can be experienced locally. Port development requires a paradigm shift from a conventional economic and engineering oriented approach to a stakeholder-inclusive and environmentally, economically and socially integrated approach to become sustainable. The research project ‘Integrated and Sustainable Port Development in Ghana within an African Context’ aims to learn how to develop integrated and sustainable African ports that meet economic, social and environmental needs now and in the future. The Port of Tema, which has evolved from a small fishing village to Ghana’s leading industrial centre and seaport in the last decades, forms the focal case study of the research. A specific objective of the governance component of the project is to find out what local stakeholders value as a sustainable port. This book is an outcome of this endeavor, seeking to present and share the voices of a range of stakeholders on Tema and its port.