NEW GRAIN TERMINAL OPENS FOR BUSINESS AT THE ABIDJAN PORT

Activités portuaires Thursday 17 August 2023

Following the inauguration of the second Container Terminal on 2 December 2022, by the Vice-President of the Republic, HEM. Tiémoko Meyliet KONÉ, on Tuesday 30 May 2023, in the presence of the Minister of Transport, Mr. Amadou KONÉ, the new Grain Terminal at the Abidjan Port was commissioned.

This infrastructure, just as strategic as the previous projects, will once again boost the competitiveness of the Abidjan Port.

Launched on 16 January 2020, at a cost of 70 billion CFA francs, the new  Grain Terminal will enable the Abidjan Port, among other things, to accommodate and handle bulk carriers with 13.5 meter draught (compared with 9 meter draught before the project) and a capacity of 70,000 tons (compared with 35,000 tons previously), improve ship and cargo handling rates, maritime and port services for shippers and the logistical performance of the Abidjan Port, reduce ship waiting times, make the Abidjan Port more attractive to ship-owners and help reduce the high cost of living.

Built on a 9-hectare plot of land, 7 hectares of which will be used for warehouses and storage silos, the new Grain Terminal, which welcomed its first two ships on Thursday 27 April 2023, has 1,010 m of linear quay.

The terminal also has a social impact, generating 400 direct jobs during the infrastructure works and 300 during the operating phase.

In his speech, the Managing Director of the Abidjan Port Authority (PAA), Mr. Hien Yacouba SIÉ, stated that the aim of the project was to make the Abidjan Port a grain hub, thanks to the terminal's handling performance and storage capacity. He went on to say that the superstructure would be built as part of a public-private partnership.

Proud of this achievement, the PAA's Managing Director expressed his gratitude to the President of the Republic, HEM. Alassane OUATTARA, whose development vision has provided the Abidjan Port with first-rate infrastructure, and to Mr. Amadou KONÉ, Minister of Transport, for his tireless support in implementing these major development projects.

Mr. Hien SIÉ also congratulated and thanked Japan, the country that financed the project, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA); TOA Corporation; the Japanese company executing the project; the Abidjan Port Community; the PAA technical teams and all the staff.

For the Minister of Transport, Mr. Amadou KONE, the completion of this work on the Abidjan Port platform, the very first grain terminal in the Gulf of Guinea, is a food security issue for the people of Côte d'Ivoire and those of the sub-region, insofar as cereals are basic necessities.

Mr. Amadou KONÉ took the opportunity to reiterate the government's congratulations to the Chairman of the PAA’s Board of Directors, Mr. Abdou TOURÉ, to the Managing Director, Mr. Hien Yacouba SIÉ, to all those involved in the Abidjan Port hub, and to all Côte d'Ivoire's development partners.

In conclusion, the Minister of Transport announced that work would begin in the coming weeks on the rehabilitation of the port boulevard, a project financed to the tune of 40 billion CFA francs by the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC).

The Japanese Ambassador to Côte d'Ivoire, HEM. IKKATAI Katsuya, whose country financed the construction of the infrastructure works, was also present at the ceremony. In his speech, Ambassador Katsuya said that the construction of the terminal was a sign of the solidity, friendship and bilateral cooperation between his country and Côte d'Ivoire, and expressed the hope that it would help consolidate further the cooperation between Japan and Côte d'Ivoire, which he described as "the locomotive of the West African sub-region".

Mr. Kyota NORIZUKI, Projects Director of TOA Corporation, expressed his gratitude to the Port Authority for the trust placed in TOA Corporation to carry out the work.

He expressed his satisfaction at the completion of this project despite the difficulties encountered, due in particular to the effects of the global health crisis, Covid-19, during the launch phase of the work.

Since 2012, the Abidjan Port Authority has undertaken major modernization work on its port platform, as set out in the two successive National Development Plans (PND) 2012-2015 and 2016-2020. As a result, it has been possible to build the mole for the Fishing Terminal, widen and deepen the entrance to the Vridi canal, fill in the Vridi-Biétry bay by creating 43 hectares of industrial land, build a Ro-Ro Terminal, a second Container Terminal and now a new Grain Terminal.

These modern infrastructures are the fruit of the dynamic economic growth that Côte d'Ivoire has been experiencing for a decade, driven by the vision and ambition of the Head of State, HEM. Alassane OUATTARA.