French group CMA-CGM, the world's third largest container shipper, plans to bid and invest between US$250 million and $313 million to develop and manage a second container terminal at the Abidjan port, director general Rodolphe Saade said.
Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa-producing nation and gateway port to several landlocked West African nations, plans to triple the capacity of its main port at the commercial hub of Abidjan to 2.3 million units by 2016, reported Reuters.
Rodolphe Saade, CMA-CGM's director general, spoke to reporters after meeting with the president of Ivory Coast, Alassane Ouattara.
"My visit is about the tender Ivory Coast has decided to launch. I met with the president to make known the interest of CMA-CGM to participate in the tender for the second container terminal
of the Abidjan port," Saade told a press conference.
"The amount we are looking at is between 200 and 250 million euros to develop the container terminal," he said.
The current 800,000 units terminal at Abidjan is managed by France's Bollore Group.
Saade said CMA-CGM aims to be a market leader in Africa, and it will continue to look at other parts of west Africa for growth, although the continent's fast development is attracting all shipping companies, making for tough competition.
"The growth of maritime transport in Africa today is between eight and 10 percent percent annually, which is still strong growth, driven mostly by imports," Saade said.
Sie Hien, CEO of the Port of Abidjan, told Reuters on Wednesday that about 20 shipping companies, including A P Moller and MSC, have already submitted bids. The tenders will be opened on July 18, he said.
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