Lions or gazelles? The past, present and future of African port authorities:The case of East Africa

摘要

This article discusses and analyses the port reform processes in two neighbouring East African countries, Kenya and Tanzania. Whilst port reform processes have been documented extensively by the academic literature, in both developed countries (Baird & Valentine, 2007; de Langen & van der Lugt, 2007; Fawcett, 2007; Pallis, 2007) and developing economies (Hoffmann, 2002; Oral, Kisi, Cerit, Tuna, & Esmer, 2007; Sanchez and Wilmsmeier, 2007) the focus in developing countries has until recently primarily been on Asia (Reveley & Tull, 2008) and South America. In-depth knowledge and insights on port reform processes on the African continent has lagged behind, with the exception of South Africa, Nigeria and Ghana (Van Niekerk, 2005; Chalfin, 2010; Fraser & Notteboom, 2015; Havenga, Simpson, & Goedhals-Gerber, 2016). However, transnational organisations such as the World Bank and UNCTAD have set up research and training programs to support port reforms in developing countries; these have been very influential in Africa.