Dubai – Mubasher: Dubai-owned DP World announced that it has won a 30-year concession for the management and development of a Greenfield multi-purpose port project at Banana in Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Giving Dubai's state-owned ports operator an option of a further 20-year extension, Port of Banana will be the first deep-sea port in the African nation with a small coastline of 37 kilometres, according to the company’s statement on Sunday.
DP World will set up a joint venture (JV) with a 70% stake, while Congo's government will own the remaining 30% share, the statement showed.
The initial cost of the first phase of the project amounted to $350 million, the world's fourth-biggest ports operator said.
“Investment in this deep-water port will have a major impact on the country’s [Congo] 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 the growth of the country and the region’s economy,” said chairman and CEO of DP World Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem.
The project’s first phase includes a 600-metre quay and 25-hectare yard extension with a container capacity of 350,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) and 1.5 million tonnes for general cargo, the statement highlighted
The port construction is expected to start this year to be finished within 24 months, according to the statement.
"The project will provide us with a first-class marine facility comparable to other African countries in terms of capacity, draft and ability to handle the latest generation of vessels," Congo’s transport and communications minister Jose Makila Sumanda commented.
