(Ecofin Agency) - Cameroon officially launched the second container terminal at the Kribi deep-sea port on May 9. The new terminal was inaugurated during a ceremony led by Transport Minister Jean Ernest Ngallé Bibéhé Massena.

According to Patrice Melom, head of the Port Authority of Kribi (PAK), the expansion has allowed the port to triple its handling capacity in just seven years.

When the first terminal opened in March 2018, it could process about 300,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) per year. The second terminal now adds a 715-meter-long quay, twice the length of the first, as well as a 30-hectare operational yard, five quay cranes (each with a 65-ton lifting capacity), 15 yard cranes, 25 tractors, and 30 trailers. With this upgrade, the port can now handle more than 1 million TEUs per year.

The new terminal’s modern infrastructure also allows Cameroon to welcome ultra-large vessels. On May 8, the MSC Turkiye, the world’s largest container ship, docked at Kribi. “Kribi is now one of only five ports in sub-Saharan Africa able to host ships of this size,” said Philippe Labonne, president of Africa Global Logistics (AGL).

AGL is the main shareholder in Kribi Conteneurs Terminal (KCT), the Cameroonian company that operates both container terminals. AGL was created after Bolloré Group sold its African transport and logistics assets. KCT is a joint venture that includes French shipping firm CMA CGM and Chinese company China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), which also built the port itself.

The second phase of Kribi’s development not only added the second terminal and yard space, but also extended the port’s protective breakwater by 675 meters. The entire second phase, launched in 2019, cost 400 billion CFA francs. Eximbank of China financed 75% of that through a loan.

The port’s third phase is already in the works. It will include a mineral terminal and a hydrocarbons terminal, with construction scheduled to start in 2027 and 2028 respectively.

According to PAK’s director general, these new facilities will support the export of strategic mineral resources from Cameroon and the wider sub-region, as well as national energy ambitions.