In a hub and spoke system ofcontainerized seaborne trade, cargo to a region is deliveredfirst to a primary hub port and then transported to itsfinal destination, whether by sea, rail, road or inlandwaterways. Similarly, exports from the region are collectedin the primary hub, and then transported to finaldestination. While these primary ports are often equipped toallow for a quick turnaround time of vessels, there areusually two primary characteristics that set them apart fromother ports: the primary hubs: (a) tend to be geographicallycentral to the region (sometimes with a substantialhinterland - that is, it attracts a considerable amount ofcargo that would in any case flow through that port); and(b) can accommodate larger vessels than other ports in theregion. The West and Central African coast from Mauritaniato Angola is one of the few regions of the world without adominant hub distribution port. Since the evolution of thehub and spoke concept has been driven by competitive forcesto lower container unit costs, the natural question to askis: what features in the containerized traffic between theregion and Europe, the predominating trade flow, haveprevented hub development?
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