DP World wins 30-year Congo port concession

DUBAI / WAM

DP World has won a 30-year concession with an option of a further 20-year extension for the management and development of a greenfield multi-purpose port project at Banana, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). The Port of Banana will be the first deep-sea port in the country along its small coastline of 37 kilometres, which currently only has the riverine port of Matadi.
DP World will set up a joint venture with 70% control, and the government of DRC holding a 30% share, to manage and invest in the Port of Banana. The first phase of the greenfield project, with an estimated initial investment of $350 million, will include a 600-metre quay and 25-hectare yard extension with a container capacity of 350,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent units) and 1.5 million tonnes for general cargo. Construction is expected to start in 2018 and is expected to take approximately 24 months to complete.
The initial investment of $350 million will be spread over 24 months and the total project cost of more than $1 billion over four phases will be dependent on market demand for the port, industrial and logistics zone infrastructure. The development gives the Democratic Republic of the Congo the opportunity to be connected into global trade lanes, to have access to a wide range of global markets and to reduce its dependency on the neighbouring countries’ ports.
Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO, DP World, said, “We are delighted to extend our Afri-can footprint further with a major investment in DRC, which is Africa’s third-most populous country but has no direct deep-sea port. Investment in this deep-water port will have a major impact on the country’s trade with significant cost and time savings, attracting more direct calls from larger vessels from Asia and Europe and ultimately acting as a catalyst for growth of the country and region’s economy.”
“We are confident that this investment will deliver attractive returns to shareholders over the longer-term and we look forward to bringing DP World’s world class productivity-enhancing, security, safety and environmental best practices in container terminal development and operation to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.”