The construction works on the proposed dry port of Ferkessédougou in northern Côte d’Ivoire, approximately 600 km from Yamoussoukro, the West African country’s economic capital, is expected to start next year, in January to be precise.

This was revealed by Albert Flindé, the Minister of African Integration and Ivorian’s living abroad, during the site inspection visit on Tuesday, December 22.

The minister said that the project, which is selected as a priority within the framework of the second Regional Economic Program (PER) of the West African Economic and Monetary Union (Union Economique et Monétaire Ouest Africaine, UEMOA, in French), will provide employment to nearly 71,000 people.

The entire project will require an investment of over US$ 566m, 50% of which will be mobilized by the private sector.

Port of Ferkessédougou project overview

The port of Ferkessédougou project will according to previous reports be undertaken by China National Complete Plant Import Export Corporation (Complant), a Chinese company mainly involved in contracting and engineering in the domestic and international markets.

The scope of the work involves the development of a logistics platform (warehouses, cold chain, etc.); a hydrocarbon depot; a regional slaughterhouse, and a cattle market; as well as an industrial zone for the development of processing activities for agricultural and mining products.

Planned for an area of 732 ha, the work of the first batch is expected to be delivered in 3-4 years’ time, at a cost of 254 billion FCFA.

The infrastructure aims to relieve congestion and bring the autonomous port of Abidjan closer to its regional partners which are the republics of Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger.