The Board of Directors of the African Development Fund (ADF) recently approved grants worth $20.56m to finance the fourth expansion of Banjul Port in The Gambia.

The funding is up of a $6.85m grant from the Transition Support Facility window and a $13.71m ADF award. The project will also get a $450,000 funding from the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Programme (AAAP). This will facilitate the provision of technical assistance for incorporating climate resilience into the expansion.

In order to detect and quantify the effects of physical climate risk on the port infrastructure and to present investment choices for adaptation, AAAP will apply cutting-edge climate analytics.

A private investor picked by the Gambian government after a competitive process will fund the expansion concurrently. The World Bank and the African Development Bank provided funding for the Banjul Port’s previous developments.

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Overview of the upgrading of Banjul port in The Gambia

The port jetty will be extended by 345 meters as part of the fourth expansion program. This will enable it to accommodate up to three ships at once instead of just one. Additionally, it calls for the repair of a broken ferry operating between Banjul and Bara, a 22,000 m2 enlargement of the container terminal area to provide room for ship unloading.

3km widening of the port access roads will also be widened to reduce traffic. Additionally, equipment for processing information and communications will be purchased to provide effective connections between customs and the terminal operating system.

Improvements to the Banjul Port in The Gambia will enable decreases in sea freight costs. It will also demurrage payments by drastically reducing ship turnaround times, reducing expensive congestion, and eliminating surcharges. Morover, the improvements will increase the facility’s capacity to promote operational and management effectiveness as it digitizes its processes.

The port infrastructure will become more environmentally friendly and climatically adaptable with the deployment of green and low-carbon emission ships. The project hopes to improve women’s organizations and provide jobs, especially for young people, through gender-sensitive procurement.