Dubai Ports starts construction of a new port in Senegal
Construction work on the new Port of Ndayane, 50 kilometres south of Dakar, began this week following a groundbreaking ceremony by Senegal's President Macky Sall. The event took place months after the signing of a concession agreement - last 2020 - between the DP World group and the Senegalese government, and symbolises the launch of the country's first deep-water port.
The investment earmarked for this project, which will be developed in two phases, amounts to more than 1.1 billion dollars (around 970 million euros), and represents the largest capital contribution by a private entity in the history of Senegal. At the same time, this is the largest investment ever made by Dubai Ports World in the African territory, and is part of the commitment made last year to increase the company's resources for the development of ports in Africa.
"With the port of Ndayane, Senegal will have a state-of-the-art port infrastructure that will reinforce our country's position as an important commercial hub and gateway to West Africa," said Macky Sall, according to Reuters news agency. He also stressed that the project will generate "significant economic opportunities for local businesses, create jobs and increase Senegal's attractiveness to foreign investors".
Similarly, the president and CEO of the DP World group, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, insisted that the construction of this port is one of the company's largest projects on the continent, and that "this represents a bright future because it will increase economic growth and prosperity". In addition, through a statement, the CEO of Dubai Ports has guaranteed that the company will bring all its "experience, technology and capacity to this port project, whose completion will support the development of Senegal for the next century".
The port of Ndayane will be built in two successive phases that are expected to make it one of the continent's leading commercial ports. In the first phase, at a cost of some 837 million dollars (over 735 million euros), a terminal of some 840 metres of container quay will be developed, as well as a 5 kilometre long sea channel in which up to two 360 metre container ships will be able to manoeuvre simultaneously.
Subsequently, during the second and final stage of construction, a further 410 metres of quay will be added for the movement of containers, and new dredging works will be carried out to allow access to vessels of up to 400 metres in length in the sea channel. The cost of this second phase is expected to be around 290 million dollars (more than 250 million euros).
Moreover, DP World also plans to develop an economic and industrial zone next to the port, near the Baise Diagne International Airport, "creating an integrated multimodal transport, logistics and industry centre", Sulaymen said. Overall, projections for the new port are for the country's TEU container handling capacity to increase by more than 1.2 million units per year.
The new port project is part of the economic and social policy framework called "Plan Senegal Emergent" (PSE) launched by Macky Sall's government in November 2012. Through this strategy, the country aims to "promote economic growth with a strong impact on human development" by the year 2035, as stated on the official website of the Dakar government.
However, within the Senegalese population itself, voices have already emerged criticising the investment made by Dubai Ports World and questioning its real relevance within the PES. Among the arguments against the construction of the port of Ndayane, some citizens question the ecological and social consequences - especially in relation to the small local populations - that a project of this magnitude could have, as well as the location of a third seaport within a radius of less than 50 kilometres.
Meanwhile, the DP World Group continues to expand its investments all over the world, and continues to reinforce its presence in Africa through other projects such as the construction of the ports of Ain Sukhna, in Egypt, or that of Berbera, in Somaliland. In this line, the company has also signed an agreement with the Democratic Republic of Congo for the development of Banana Port (in the city of Banana), in the Atlantic Ocean, next year. In addition, last October, Dubai Ports approved an agreement with the investor CDC Group to create an investment platform - worth some 1,500 million euros - to contribute to the creation of ports in Africa and to collaborate in the increase of their commercial capacity.