Saudi giant eyes Cape Town port

Saudi Arabian ports operator Red Sea Gateway Terminal is considering bidding for a 25-year concession to refurbish and operate a terminal at the Port of Cape Town.

Transnet National Ports Authority is seeking a new private operator for the Duncan Dock Precinct, one of two multipurpose terminals at the port.

The state-owned company is looking to increase cargo-handling capacity and modernise infrastructure to accommodate growing volumes of containerised, dry-bulk and break-bulk cargo.

The terminal is currently operated under a lease that expires next year.

The move is the latest effort by Transnet to turn around the port after it was ranked the world’s worst performer last year by the World Bank and S&P Global.

The company, which is owned by the South African government, has also introduced a predictive wind model to curb weather-related disruptions and a digital platform to improve cargo planning.

This is aimed at tackling equipment failures, shipping delays and other bottlenecks that have weighed on productivity. 

Fixing South Africa’s freight and logistics network is critical to reviving an economy that has expanded by less than 1% a year on average for more than a decade, with transport constraints repeatedly cited as a brake on faster growth.

RSGT, Saudi Arabia’s first privately funded terminal operator, joined a meeting of prospective bidders in Cape Town on Thursday to “evaluate participation,” said Gagan Seksaria, its director of global investments.

The company, which operates the kingdom’s largest container terminal, is partly owned by the Public Investment Fund, the nation’s sovereign wealth fund, and has also considered bidding for a fresh produce terminal at the Port of Durban.

Transnet didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Over the past decade, Gulf states have spent more than $100 billion in Africa on everything from energy, agriculture, and logistics.

The United Arab Emirates-based DP World has ongoing projects to expand Maputo Port in Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo’s first deep-water port.

Bids to operate the Cape Town terminal close on 20 November.