DP World signs 20-year concession deal to operate Port of Luanda in Angola

Dubai-based company plans to invest $190m to upgrade infrastructure at the port

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DP World signed a 20-year concession agreement with the government of Angola to operate the Multipurpose Terminal (MPT) at the Port of Luanda.

As part of the deal, DP World will invest $190 million to upgrade the existing infrastructure and buy new equipment at the port to help increase its throughput to 700,000 twenty-foot equivalent container units per year, the port operator said in a statement on Monday.

“Our entry into Angola and planned investment in the terminal, as outlined in the agreement, reflects our belief in the potential for further economic growth in the country,” Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, group chairman and chief executive of DP World, said.

The company will also modernise the port management system and will provide training and development opportunities to the Angolan staff employed at the terminal.

The signing of the agreement follows an international tender process in which DP World was selected by an evaluation committee set up by the Angolan Ministry of Transport as the preferred bidder to enter into discussions with the government for the concession.

The terminal at the Port of Luanda handles containers and general cargo. It has a quay of 610 metres with a depth of 12.5 metres and a yard of 23 hectares.

Angola is the second-largest oil producer in Africa, after Nigeria. Its economy depends heavily on hydrocarbon production, making its economy vulnerable to oil price swings.

The MPT will be the first seaport terminal located on the western coast of Southern Africa to be operated and managed by DP World.

DP World also signed an agreement with Senegal to develop its Ndayane deep-water port with a total investment of $1.1 billion last month.