Dubai: West Africa's largest and most modern container terminal, Terminal à Conteneur, developed and operated by global marine terminal operator DP World, was officially opened on Wednesday by Abdulaye Wade, President of Senegal.
Expanded and upgraded by DP World Dakar following a concession agreement signed in 2007, the terminal's capacity has been more than doubled from less than 300,000 TEU (twenty-foot equivalent containers) to more than 600,000 TEU.
The opening ceremony at the Port of Dakar was attended by Bara Sady, Managing Director, Dakar Port Authority, Mohammad Sharaf, Chief Executive Officer, DP World, Joost Kruijning, Senior Vice-President and Managing Director DP World, Africa, Guido Heremans, CEO, DP World Dakar, and other officials.
Sultan Ahmad Bin Sul-ayem, Chairman of DP World, said: "The expansion of the terminal and the upgrading of the facilities and equipment make DP World Dakar the most modern and efficient terminal in western Africa. Our experience is that economies grow as efficient infrastructure comes on line and today it opens up a whole new world of economic possibilities for Senegal and West African communities. We are grateful to the Government of Senegal for their support and cooperation in helping to make this possible."
Waiting time
Since winning the concession in 2007, DP World has introduced window berthing, where vessels book a specific time they can berth, virtually eliminating waiting time at anchorage.
DP World Dakar is the only port in the region offering this service. In addition, DP World has reduced truck turnaround time to less than half an hour, and introduced clear tariffs and processes supported by modern technology systems. The result of these improvements has been an increase of around a third in volumes through the port, with the resultant benefits for the trade and Senegal's economy.
Mohammad Sharaf, Chief Executive Officer of DP World, said: "As Africa's favoured first port of call for vessels southbound from Europe, DP World Dakar occupies an important place in our global portfolio. We believe the successful completion of the development at the Autonomous Port of Dakar will ably meet our customers' needs in this fast developing region." DP World Dakar has directly created more than 200 jobs for local Senegalese. Under the company's management, specialised training has been given to all terminal employees to bring operational efficiencies in line with DP World's global standards.
Commitment
Bara Sady, Managing Director Dakar Port Authority, said: "This shows our respective commitment to realise our ambition to improve quality of service at Dakar port container terminal. I can express our satisfaction with DP World Dakar operations in our port and look forward to an increase in the throughput of containers in the terminal."
