UAE’s DP World to Invest $3 Billion in African Port Infrastructure

Africa is increasingly attracting the United Arab Emirates. DP World PLC, a UAE-based company that is engaged in the operation and development of international maritime terminals, logistics and related services, plans to invest $3 billion over the next three to five years in new port infrastructure in Africa, to meet long-term growth, including growing demand for vital mineral exports, reports Bloomberg. "The cost of logistics and supply chain services across Africa is extremely high compared to other global markets, which represents a good opportunity," said Mohammed Akoojee, DP World’s CEO for the sub-Saharan Africa region. He was keen to point out that the thriving market for vital minerals, including copper from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, is contributing to increasing the need for increased logistics capacity. "We have seen an increase in demand in recent years, largely driven by global movements and demand for products such as cobalt and lithium," Akoojee added.

To read:

DP World’s African division employs 27,000 people. It covers port operations, terminals, logistics services and the supply chain. The port operator is expanding in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. But it failed in its attempt to partner with "Transnet SOC" in South Africa to develop the continent’s largest container port. It had lost out to International Container Terminal Services of Filipino billionaire Enrique Razon. Recently, DP World PLC’s African branch has evaluated ports in South Africa and Kenya, with a view to future investments.

At the invitation of Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, King Mohammed VI had made an official visit to the United Arab Emirates in early December 2023. On the sidelines of this visit, several agreements and promises of agreements had been signed in Abu Dhabi by the two personalities. Among them, a memorandum of understanding to establish cooperation in the field of investment in the port sector, aimed at enhancing investment opportunities, as well as other innovative mechanisms to finance projects in the port sector in Morocco, in particular the port of Dakhla Atlantique and the port of Nador West Med.