ABIDJAN PORT HAS TAKEN ON A NEW DIMENSION INAUGURATION OF THE 2ND CONTAINER TERMINAL: ABIDJAN PORT TAKES A NEW DIMENSION

Activités portuaires Tuesday 28 March 2023

Eighteen (18) months after the laying of the first stone by His Excellency Alassane OUATTARA, President of the Republic for the construction of the superstructure of the second container terminal (TC2) in october 2020, this state-of-the -art terminal was inaugurated on 02 décembre 2022 by His Excellency Tiemoko Meyliet KONE, Vice President of the Republic who was accompagnied by His Excellency Patrick ACHI, Prime Minister, by Mr. Amadou KONE , Minister of Transport and several other members of the Government including Mrs Kandia CAMARA, State Minister in charge of Foreign Affairs.

This new platform which required an overall investment of 596 billion CFAF of which 334 billion for earthworks and the development of 37.55 Ha of open storage area funded by Abidjan Port Authority and 262 billion CFAF for the construction of superstructure funded by the concession holder, will enable Abidjan Port to mutiply by 2.5 its handling capacity of containers from 1 million TEUs / year to 2.5 million TEUs per year and to accomodate 16 m draught vessels carrying up to 14 000 TEUs as against 3.500 TEUs presently.

According to his Excellency Tiemoko Meyliet KONE, the second container terminal not only is necessary to reposition Abidjan Port among the biggest port in Africa, even in the world, but is also essential to promote sustainable growth in Côte d’Ivoire.

Expressing his pride for the work achieved in the port area, he congratulated, on behalf of the President of the Republic all the stakeholders of the project including the Minister of Transport, the Chairman of Abidjan Port Authority’s Board of Directors, the Managing Director of Abidjan Port Authority , Eximbank China for its financial contribution, the technical partners and particularly, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) which has been awarded the contract for infrastructure construction, as well as APM Terminals/ Bollore Africa Logistics/ Bouygues TP consortium which won the international tender for the construction of the superstructures and which was granted the operation of the second container terminal through their Cote d’Ivoire Terminal Branch.

The vice President expressed his appreciation for the perfect collaboration between the State of Côte d’Ivoire, Switzerland and China which produced tremendous progress in terms of infrastructures not only in Abidjan Port but also all over the country

The vice President reaffirmed the support of the President of the Republic and the Ivorian Government for the willingness to provide unwavering support to any new development project in Abidjan Port.

For the Minister of Transport, the supervisory minister of the Port Authority, all these major development projects (Mole of the Fishing Port development of refllied lands, the resized Vridi Canal, the new RO-RO and container terminal (TC2) which have emerged through the enlightened vision of his Excellency Alassane OUATTARA President of the Republic amounted to 1100 billion CFAF. As regards the second container Terminal, it will irreversibly and sustainably confirm the leading position of Abidjan Port within the west African sub-region.

This project, as M. Amadou KONE underlined is particularly important for the Head of state in view of its role on the social level in the creation of jobs and also the free flow of trade between west Africa and the rest of the world.

During his address, Mr Hien Yacouba SIE, Managing Director of Abidjan Port Authority indicated that the implementation of the modernization project of Abidjan Port has been made possible thanks to the special interest that the President of Republic has in the development of Ivoirian ports.

He further pointed out that Abidjan Port joined the inner circle of African ports which have been standing out more more on the Atlantic coast of Africa. Mr. Hien Yacouba SIE made the commitment to work to further consolidate the major role of Abidjan Port in the Ivorian and Sub regional economy.

In his statement, Mr Philippe LABONNE, Chairman of Bollore Africa Logistics indicated that the second container terminal will bring a new dimension to Abidjan Port. According to him, this new terminal has become a transhipment platform for the neighbouring countries and a privileged gate for the Hinterland countries (Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger)

This terminal meets the latest environmental standards. it will be famous for the control of the carbon footprint and will be labelled « Green Terminal » thanks to its container handling and processing equipment (shore gantries, yard crane, loader trucks etc.) supplied with green energy, namely electricity.

According to Mr LABONNE, additional investments in the second container terminal will be made and deployed throughout the country to provide an efficient logistics ecosystem in order to support the development of industrial sectors nation wide.

To conclude, He reaffirmed the commitment of Bolloré Group to share « the vision Côte d’Ivoire 2030 » in order to accompany the economic dynamics of Côte d’Ivoire.

Since its commissioning on 02 November 2022, the new terminal gained the trust of the three global shipowners : MSC, MAERSK and CMA CGM

The new terminal is also recognized as a reference player for imports and exports in Côte d’Ivoire, in Africa and in the world.