The Civil Engineering Contractor July 2018 | Page 9

ON CONTRACTORS’ SITES
Côte d’Ivoire’s Port of Abidjan
The new terminal will be operational from June 2020.
international transport and logistics. The company has
enriched its expertise to become a tier-one supply chain
partner and one of the top 10 transport and logistics
companies in the world.
Bolloré has the largest integrated logistics network in
Africa.
Source: Leads2Business.co.za
Plans are underway for the construction of the second
container terminal at Côte d’Ivoire’s main Port of Abidjan.
French industrial conglomerate Bolloré has plans to invest
USD496.3-million from next year towards the terminal
construction project. This is according to Bolloré Transport
and Logistics deputy CEO, Philippe Labonne.
Côte d’Ivoire authorities want the main Port of Abidjan to
become a regional hub. Currently, the port is used to ship
cocoa beans from the world’s top cocoa producer and is also
a vital supply and export route for landlocked countries to
the north.
Labonne says that the terminal project is scheduled to kick
off in June or July next year: “It’s a question of building a
platform and setting up the port equipment,” he points out.
The new terminal will be operational from June 2020
and will be financed by the project’s partner, Maersk.
Meanwhile, the port authorities, through Chinese help, are
currently widening the canal leading to the port to reach 16
metres, which will allow larger ships to dock.
The project aims to boost terminal capacity by around
15% from its current roughly 1.2-million 20-foot equivalent
container units (TEU).
Bolloré Logistics is constantly adapting to its customers’
changing needs, apart from being a global leader in
Côte d’Ivoire has launched extensive upgrades to its ports to
support the growth of the natural resource sector and to attract
more of the regional transit trade.
CEC July 2018 - 9