Port de Pointe Noire

The port of Pointe Noire is located in a bay in the Gulf of Guinea. Partly reclaimed from the sea, it is particularly favoured in comparison with other ports in the sub-region, with a depth of water that can reach at least 13 m after dredging. It was developed in the colonial era to serve a vast hinterland now comprising Chad, the Central African Republic (CAR), the Republic of the Congo and, in part, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). 

The aim of the renovation of the port is to reinforce the integration of the sub-region (notably CAR and DRC) in the international trade, and its objective is to increase the maritime traffic at Pointe Noire in competitive and financially viable conditions of price and quality of services (time limits, safety, simplification of procedures) with greater involvement of the private sector.  The project will be co-financed by AFD, EIB and BDEAC, and the lenders will play an important strategic role in providing technical assistance and ensuring compliance with international best practice in financial and technical management.  

Renovation of the PAPN is furthermore one of the priorities of the Congolese Government which has included it in the list of regional projects for NEPAD.  

The project will consist of the construction of a protective berm along the last 550 m of the existing breakwater and the extension of the external breakwater by 300 m in order to reconstitute a sand trap and thus reduce the frequency of maintenance dredging, of the rehabilitation and extension of the quays in the container terminal, and the construction of the new quay, of some dredging and rehabilitation of quay surface and of the repair and upgrading of some infrastructure (lighthouses; buoys; water, electricity and sewage networks, etc.).  

The Technical Assistance Grant will be used for the financing of capacity building for the financial and accounting staff of the Port Authority, including the upgrading of accounting information systems, improving internal control procedures, maintenance of the financial projection model and assistance to the financial management.  These measure will help improving the management of the Port Authority and decreasing the credit risk for the Port's lenders. In addition, the Port Authority needs external support for implementing an environmental management plan in the day-to-day operation period.