Equatorial Guinea aims to double its port capacity and turn the tiny oil-rich nation into a shipping hub and the Dubai of Africa by investing billions of dollars in its harbors, a senior official said. Security is a concern in the surrounding Gulf of Guinea, which has seen an upsurge in attacks on ships and oil rigs, but Malabo and Bata ports can become central to trade in West and Central Africa, ports chief Alberto Ndong Obiang Lima said.
The port developments are part of a broader infrastructure makeover the former Spanish colony has launched to ensure its oil- and gas-fuelled bonanza, which began in the mid 1990s, is not followed by a sharp downturn when resources run out.
“We want to double the volume to 1,200 ships that come in (to Malabo) each year. We are looking at a capacity of about 40,000 containers,’’ Lima, the managing director of Equatorial Guinea’s ports, told Reuters.
The port project and associated infrastructure will cost around $4.5 billion and is due to be completed in 2011, he said.
“We don’t just want goods for this country, we want goods in transit for the rest of the zone. They can drop things here and we can play the role of distributor,’’ Lima said.
Moroccan workers in Malabo, the capital, and a former small cocoa port on the island of Boiko are reclaiming land to extend and build new quays to turn the port into a container hub big enough to accommodate the Panamax vessels that carry much of the world’s bulk commodities.
Lima said Malabo would compete with Abidjan in Ivory Coast and Douala in Cameroon, key regional ports.
The five-year project in Bata, on the mainland, is due to start this June and will be carried out by the China Road and Bridge Corporation. Lima did not give a cost for the Bata project, which will centre around a 2 km jetty into the sea.
“The government has spent this much money as they know that the oil will have its limits. The port will then support us,’’ Lima said as dock workers unloaded cement in Malabo.
The port developments are part of a broader infrastructure makeover the former Spanish colony has launched to ensure its oil- and gas-fuelled bonanza, which began in the mid 1990s, is not followed by a sharp downturn when resources run out.
“We want to double the volume to 1,200 ships that come in (to Malabo) each year. We are looking at a capacity of about 40,000 containers,’’ Lima, the managing director of Equatorial Guinea’s ports, told Reuters.
The port project and associated infrastructure will cost around $4.5 billion and is due to be completed in 2011, he said.
“We don’t just want goods for this country, we want goods in transit for the rest of the zone. They can drop things here and we can play the role of distributor,’’ Lima said.
Moroccan workers in Malabo, the capital, and a former small cocoa port on the island of Boiko are reclaiming land to extend and build new quays to turn the port into a container hub big enough to accommodate the Panamax vessels that carry much of the world’s bulk commodities.
Lima said Malabo would compete with Abidjan in Ivory Coast and Douala in Cameroon, key regional ports.
The five-year project in Bata, on the mainland, is due to start this June and will be carried out by the China Road and Bridge Corporation. Lima did not give a cost for the Bata project, which will centre around a 2 km jetty into the sea.
“The government has spent this much money as they know that the oil will have its limits. The port will then support us,’’ Lima said as dock workers unloaded cement in Malabo.