273m Capital Lays Foundation For Second Abidjan Port Terminal Construction

VENTURES AFRICA – The building of a second container terminal at Abidjan port in Ivory Coast, awarded to a group led by France’s Bollore in 2013, is set to begin as three banks have been raised €200 million ($272.42 million) for the start of the project

Souleymane Diarrassouba, Director General of Banque Atlantique, told Reuters Thursday that Banque Atlantique raised €100 million ($136.21 million) while Societe Generale and Afreximbank gave €50 million ($68.1 million) each for the start of the execution of the new terminal contract. The new terminal is expected to boost capacity at the Abidjan port which is already one of Africa’s busiest, a gateway for landlocked nations to the north and a transit point for beans from the world’s top

cocoa grower.
Although Diarrassouba, whose bank is a subsidiary of Banque Populaire du Maroc, explained that the money would allow the port of Abidjan to start the work on a second container terminal, he failed to give the exact total cost of the project.
Abidjan’s port is currently enjoying a traffic boom with total tonnage surpassing 21 million tonnes in 2013. The port deal also
But the deal to expand the port- which includes France’s Bouygues and a subsidiary of Danish shipping giant Maersk -has not been without controversy as Ivory Coast’s trade minister criticised his own government for awarding the contract to Bollore, arguing that the move stifles competition.