DP World has tapped Portuguese construction firm Mota-Engil to head the development of the Democratic Republic of Congo’s (DRC) Banana Port, according to a statement released on Thursday. The port — located in Kongo Central — will be DRC’s first and only maritime gateway for containerized cargo.

What we know: The project is scheduled to be built in two phases — the first phase will include a 600m quay, 30 hectares of storage area, and a handling capacity of 450k TEUs annually, while the second phase is set to expand the quay wall by over 2km. Construction kicked off in 2022.

Slow progress? DP World inked a collaboration agreement with the Congolese government in December 2021 to develop the Banana Port to boost the country’s access to international markets and global supply chains. Construction kicked off in 2022 and the British government’s development finance arm British International Investment (BII) invested some USD 35 mn for the first phase of DP World’s deep-sea container port back in August 2024.

An expanding partnership: BII and DP World have worked to modernize and expand in Senegal’s Dakar and Ndayane Port, Egypt’ Sokhna Port, and Somaliland’s Berbera Port. The three ports will improve access to vital goods for c. 35 mn people and allow an additional USD 51 bn to total trade by 2035.

IN OTHER DP WORLD UPDATES-

The port operator has partnered with Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries to launch a new rail solution in India to support local inland transportation of petrochemical goods, according to a statement. The project aims to connect DP World’s inland container depot in Ahmedabad and Mundra Port with Reliance Industries’ Gujarat Jamnagar plant. The Ahmedabad-Jamnagar-Mundra route — spanning some 700 km — has been converted into rail in a bid to cut down on the environmental and operational costs of long-distance road freight transportation. The new rail service can handle up to 1.2k tonnes of cargo and up to 45 containers per single trip.

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