“We are excited by this opportunity to use our expertise to build best-in-class infrastructure to ensure the continued development and growth for Kigali and the wider economy” Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, chairman of DP World said. The total cost of the project is anticipated to be around $35 million (Sh3.6 billion), with further development to be phased in line with demand growth. DP World, the Dubai-owned port operator, recently took up concession deals in eastern and southern Africa. DP World has a concession to run Djibouti’s Doraleh container terminal which is Africa’s largest.

The firm also has a similar deal at the port of Maputo in Mozambique which serves as the main shipping terminus for land-locked regions of southern Africa such as Gauteng Province, Swaziland, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Malawi. The company is also bidding for the concession deal for the second container terminal at the Mombasa port. “We are definitely interested in Lamu because of the prime location. If an opportunity comes to bid for the concession of the Lamu port we shall put in a request.

“Meanwhile we are hoping all goes well with our concession bid for the second container terminal in Mombasa,” Sultan Ahmed further told Shipping & Logistics in October at the firm’s head office in Dubai. Maritime trade in eastern and southern Africa has particularly registered good growth, buoyed by booming construction sectors and discoveries of large mineral and gas deposits. The growth in global sea trade has partly been fuelled by a recent drop in ocean freight charges due to technological advances, economies of scale, improved trade and transport facilitation as well as more fuel efficient ships and trucks have all contributed to the trend of a long-term decline in international transport costs.

Source: Business Daily

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