Public Management

Côte d’Ivoire : $1.4 billion to be invested in Abidjan port by 2020

Côte d’Ivoire : $1.4 billion to be invested in Abidjan port by 2020
Thursday, 28 February 2019 19:10

More than XOF800 billion ($1.4 billion) will be invested to extend and modernize Abidjan’s autonomous port in Côte d’Ivoire by 2020, the prime minister Amadou Gon Coulibaly indicates.  

In the framework of that project, Vridi canal inaugurated last February 21 has been resized. The infrastructure is estimated at $255,575,018 (about XOF150 billion), 85% funded by Eximbank China and 15% by the port.

Thanks to this infrastructure, Abidjan port will be able to receive all-size conventional container ships with a 16-meter draft while previously it was 12-meters and the max size of the ship it could receive before was 260-meters. This new configuration will also help reduce waiting times due to the canal being unable to receive some ships. It should also enhance the attractivity of this port.

Abidjan now wants to be a regional hub

During the inauguration of the canal, authorities expressed their ambitions for Abidjan port that takes care of 85% of international exchanges and provides 75% of customs revenues. Along with other large construction projects among which is the construction of a container terminal, Abidjan wants to become a regional hub.

"The enlargement and the deepening of Vridi canal helps reposition Abidjan port as a sub-regional hub in the maritime transport sector. These works will inexorably impact the port’s activities that will now be able to receive latest-generation vessels,” Amadou Gon Coulibaly said.

“Via those infrastructures, we want to be the main port on the African Atlantic coast between Tangier and Cape Town”, Hien Sié, the port’s managing director, declared.

Formerly the second container port on the African Atlantic coast after Lagos port in Nigeria, it was overtaken by Tema port (Ghana) some years ago and by Lomé port (Togo) in 2015, according to data from Dutch maritime analyst Dynamar.

With these important investments, Abidjan is thus trying to regain control of a market where the competition is getting tougher. For this purpose, it also has to tend to some problems like the high fees in Abidjan port. Indeed, according to the World Bank, the cost of a container transiting via Abidjan port is 59% higher at exports and 44% higher at imports.

Borgia Kobri & Zeinab Dosso 

Additional Info

  • communiques: Non
  • couleur: N/A
On the same topic
Côte d’Ivoire will receive $234 million for a sustainable urban mobility project in Abidjan. Gambia will receive $32.2 million to build...
Stanbic IBTC and Zenith Bank cut monthly card spending abroad to $500 and $200 Foreign reserves fall by $3.5 billion in six...
Cauri Money launches Gajo Money, an e-wallet for the Cameroonian diaspora, targeting €120 million in transactions by end-2025. The fintech...
• Kenya and ASR sign deal to reduce risk on projects worth up to $2 billion.• Risk cover will target infrastructure, energy, logistics, and trade...
Most Read
01

• Investors seem to keep focusing on yields, which are high for the moment• New Leadership might see...

Afreximbank Bonds Retain Market Confidence Despite Moody’s Downgrade
02

• Qatar Airways and Kenya Airways establish strategic agreement, introducing a third daily flight be...

Qatar Airways Expands its Network in Africa, Building Presence in Kigali, Johannesburg, and Nairobi
03

• ECOWAS Bank funds 47.7-km stretch of strategic 700-km road project• Lagos-Calabar highway seen boo...

Nigeria Secures $100 mln ECOWAS Bank Loan for Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway
04

• EY is preparing to leave Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa by 2026• The exit could unlock $500 m...

EY’s Exit Creates $1bn Opportunity in Francophone Africa Consulting Market
05

• Inflation within the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) fell to a two-year low of 0....

UEMOA: Inflation Drops to 0.6% in May, Driven by Lower Food Prices
Enter your email to receive our newsletter

Ecofin Agency provides daily coverage of nine key African economic sectors: public management, finance, telecoms, agribusiness, mining, energy, transport, communication, and education.
It also designs and manages specialized media, both online and print, for African institutions and publishers.

SALES & ADVERTISING

regie@agenceecofin.com 
Tél: +41 22 301 96 11 
Mob: +41 78 699 13 72
Média kit : Download

EDITORIAL
redaction@agenceecofin.com

More information
Team
Publisher

ECOFIN AGENCY

Mediamania Sarl
Rue du Léman, 6
1201 Geneva
Switzerland

 

Ecofin Agency is a sector-focused economic news agency, founded in December 2010. Its web platform was launched in June 2011. ©Mediamania.

 
 

Please publish modules in offcanvas position.