DP World reveals ambitious plans for Senegal and Mali

Port developer and operator DP World has announced that construction work on its Port de Futur will begin in Senegal by the end of 2018. The project is intended to provide the country with a state-of-the-art integrated port, logistics hub and special economic zone.

It has also announced plans to develop the economy of Mali, the desert state to the east of Senegal. DP World took over Dakar Port, with Senegal’s only deepwater harbour and container terminal, in 2007. However, Dakar Port is located on the end of a peninsula, and so has nowhere to grow.

DP World’s intends to build a terminal with an annual capacity of 1 million teu at Bargny, on the south-eastern outskirts of Dakar, as well as a 6.5-km², $800m logistics hub and free-trade zone. Altogether, the port scheme will have a capital cost of around $1.3bn.

Port de Futur is competing with a number of other West African port projects for access to a hinterland of around 200 million people in 16 countries.

DP World is presently negotiating land allocations for the free-trade zone, and has promised to reveal its masterplan for the redevelopment of the existing port in the coming months.

The company is hoping to put in place a programme of works to enable Mali to make use of Port de Futur. The plan includes a transportation and logistics strategy with the same electronic customs processes DP World developed for the port of Jebel Ali in Dubai.

Mali has a long history of trade in gold and agricultural products and though landlocked, has the opportunity to maximise use of its 1,800km of inland waterways such as the Niger River to connect local farmers and businesses to international markets.

DP World’s flagship Jebel Ali model in Dubai, connecting port, free-trade zone, customs processes and logistics supported by advanced digital systems and technologies, is an example from which countries in Africa such as Mali can benefit.