In the past decades there was no need for a transshipment port for West Africa, mainly because of the weak containerized traffic in the region, therefore making it economically unattractive to settle and develop a major transshipment port.But recently the region has seen a great development; in the last decade Africa was the second continent with the fastest GDP growth only behind Asia; this development stimulated trade, consequently increasing volumes traded and therefore how cargos are handled and transported. This increase is followed by the unceasing necessity of efficient cargo transportation, because in a globalized world product cycles are shortening making them more and more time sensitive. Therefore, containerized cargo, which makes cargo handling and transportation more efficient, has been increasing in the region and this growth is expected to endure with an average of 9.62% increase in the next five years.The purpose of this study is to choose the best suitable location for a transshipment hub in West Africa; it is focused on the port of "Porto Grande" in Cape Verde, because of its strategic location at the crossroads of major international shipping routes in the mid-Atlantic Ocean.This study is important because it answer the question of whether is necessary or not to have a transshipment port in the region and therefore where is the most suitable location to develop a transshipment port.A rating scale method was used to select the most suitable port, based on the following variables:characteristics of the port and position; according to the variables analyzed in this study, the results showed that the port of "Porto Grande" is the most suitable port to be developed into a transshipment port, over ports like port of Dakar and Tema.Having found the transshipment port location, a cost analysis is necessary to determine if the development of a transshipment port is viable. The total cost analyzed in this study took under consideration inter-port distances, ports waiting times, travelling and docking vessel costs, ports infrastructure, and handling cost. This study compared the total cost with transshipment and total cost without transshipment, reaching a conclusion that transshipment is only viable when made after 3.052 nautical miles.This study is specific to West Africa transshipment port selection problem.