The largest international shipping container terminal in West Africa will be built soon

In Abidjan, one of West Africa's largest natural harbors, dozens of Chinese engineering ships are working day and night to expand the Côte d'Ivoire's port, which will be West Africa's largest container terminal.

"Abidjan port now has an annual throughput of 650,000 standard containers, and the capacity after expansion can reach nearly 1.9 million standard containers, which will bring great impetus to Côte d'Ivoire's economy." Wang Guangsheng, deputy general manager of West Africa of China Harbour Engineering Co., Ltd., who is in charge of port expansion, said.

The expansion project of Abidjan port, which started in November 2015 with preferential buyer's credit provided by the Export-Import Bank of China, will become the largest port in West Africa, which is of great significance to build Côte d'Ivoire into a political, economic and cultural center in West Africa.

Bick, director of the China Division of the Asian Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Côte d'Ivoire, said that Côte d'Ivoire is an open country, and infrastructure such as special economic zones, highways along the Atlantic Ocean and transnational railways will be built in the future. He hoped that Chinese companies would participate more, bring capital, management experience and corporate culture, and help Côte d'Ivoire create jobs, expand exports and increase foreign exchange earnings.

According to China's Ministry of Commerce, most African seaports have annual capacity of less than 1 million TEUs, and only a few ports, such as Said Port in Egypt and Durban Port in South Africa, have annual capacity of more than 2 million TEUs, mainly due to outdated port facilities. In recent years, a "tide of port construction" has emerged in Africa, while Chinese engineering companies are widely favored for their good construction quality, reasonable quotation and short construction period.

西非最大的国际海运集装箱码头即将诞生

       在西非大型天然良港之一阿比让，数十艘中国工程船正日夜不停地忙碌，对科特迪瓦的港口实施扩建。这将是西非最大的集装箱码头。

       “阿比让港现在年吞吐量为65万个标准集装箱，扩建后的吞吐能力可达近190万个标箱，这将给科特迪瓦经济带来巨大推动力。”负责港口扩建的中国港湾工程有限责任公司西非区副总经理王广生称。

       阿比让港口扩建项目于2015年11月开工，项目资金由中国进出口银行提供优惠买方信贷。扩建后的阿比让港将成为西非第一大港，对将科特迪瓦建成西非地区政治、经济和文化中心具有重要意义。

       科特迪瓦外交部亚洲司中国处处长比克在接受新华社记者专访时表示，科特迪瓦是个开放的国度，今后要建设经济特区、沿大西洋公路、跨国铁路等基础设施，希望中国公司多多参与，带来资金、管理经验和企业文化，帮助科特迪瓦创造就业、扩大出口和增加外汇收入。

       据中国商务部数据，非洲海港年吞吐能力大多在100万个标箱以内，仅埃及塞得港和南非德班港等少数港口年吞吐能力超过200万个标箱，主要原因是港口设施陈旧。近年来，一股“港口修建潮”在非洲涌现，而中国工程公司因施工质量好、报价合理、工期短广受青睐。