Abidjan seeks dominance

Port expansion will make trade easier for landlocked neighbors

Few projects in Africa will have such far-reaching ripple effects on national and regional economies as the Port of Abidjan's ongoing transformation.

With an investment of $2.5 billion, the port expansion project will catapult the Ivorian capital into one of Africa's highest-capacity port cities.

When completed in 2020, the project will have enlarged the Vridi Canal, added a second terminal and expanded its mineral depot, allowing for a 2.25 million twenty-foot-equivalent-unit capacity and enabling Abidjan to rival the continent's busiest freight ways.

Upgrades at Cape Town's port, for example, will bring capacity to 1.3 million TEUs in the medium term.

Cote d'Ivoire's investment in maritime freighting will also have positive effects for its neighbors, particularly the landlocked nations of Mali and Burkina Faso, which depend on Abidjan's port for trade and are limited by its current capacity.

The expanded minerals depot is being built with these nations in mind, enabling a crucial lever to boost booming mining industries by enabling the port to handle up to 3 million tonnes of minerals by its completion.

justin@the-businessreport.com

(China Daily 08/08/2016 page28)