Djibouti is in talks with the French shipping company CMA CGM to develop a new container terminal at an initial cost of $ 660 million as part of the project for the development of maritime and air transport on the African continent.
Aboubakar Omar Hadi, chairman of the Ports and Free Zones Authority of Djibouti (DPFZA), told Reuters on Tuesday that the authority hopes to grant the concession in July. CMA-CGM was also ready to buy out DP World’s stake in an existing container terminal to put an end to litigation with the Dubai port operator and avoid arbitration, he added.
Once operational, Hadi said the port terminal would have an annual capacity of 2.4 million twenty-foot equivalents (TEUs), but the following expansion phases would increase this capacity to 4 million TEUs. .
Fifteen percent of the project costs will be financed by equity. Of this, the DPFZA will contribute 85%, with a dealer partner providing 15%. The rest will be raised through international institutions and banks. It remains to find a solution to the dispute between Djibouti and DP World.
