International Container Terminal Services, Inc. will begin a $100 million project to double its container capacity at Democratic Republic of Congo's main port at Matadi.
The Philippines-based company will also start dredging the Congo River to an eventual depth of 12.5 meters, allowing larger vessels to travel the 92 miles from the Atlantic coast to the port, it said in an emailed statement Thursday. ICTSI's container capacity will eventually reach 400,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEU, per year, it said.
“Studies suggest that Congo will achieve emerging-market country status within the next 10 years, and as such we are very confident that this nearly $100 million expansion plan anticipates the DRC's requirements over this period and will deliver unrivaled efficiencies,” said Hans Ole Madsen, ICTSI's Senior Vice President for Europe, Middle East and Africa.
ICTSI is the controlling shareholder in the Matadi Gateway Terminal joint venture. The privately held Congolese conglomerate Groupe Ledya owns 38% of the project, while state-owned Société Congolaise des Transports et des Ports, or SCTP, holds 10%.
To contact the reporter on this story: Michael J. Kavanagh in Kinshasa at mkavanagh9@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gordon Bell at gbell16@bloomberg.net, Robert Brand, Vernon Wessels
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