Significant participant in port operations, Albayrak Group of Turkiye, has started managing a project portfolio valued at approximately one billion euros in The Gambia, where it plans to construct the nation’s largest and most advanced port at Sanyang.
Albayrak Group, which defeated competitors including large French, Saudi, and Moroccan corporations in a bid contest last year, signed a concession agreement on Thursday to oversee the most important port in the Gambia. The project entails building the new Sanyang 12 m deep sea port as well as renovating the current Banjul Port. To mark the anniversary, a ceremony was hosted at the Sir Dawda Jawara Conference Center.
The largest foreign direct investment in Gambian history, according to Honorable Ebrima Sillah, Minister of Transport, Works, and Infrastructure, is the Banjul Ports Concession project. Mr. Sillah claims that the concession project will promote efficiency in all port-related activities, including management. Additionally, it will enable faster transportation of goods and services, greatly enhancing the operational turnaround time for conducting business at the port of Gambiana.
The Vice Chairman of the Board of Albayrak Holding, Nuri Albayrak, the Deputy General Manager for Business Development, Salih Levent Kaçar, Adnan Üçcan, the Legal Advisor, Türker Oba, the Ambassador of Turkey to The Gambia, and other company representatives attended the concession contract signing ceremony last Tuesday. Present from the Gambian side were Ousmane Jobarteh, Managing Director of the Gambia Ports Authority, Minister of Finance Seedy Keita, and Minister of Transport Ebrima Sillah.
In the cooperative model with Albayrak, the government and GPA assume the roles of both landlord and shareholder in the concession, similar to a grantor-shareholder arrangement.
Payments from the gross revenue for both Banjul and Sanyang will be made to the government of The Gambia and GPA. All employees who are part of the activities will continue to be paid, and these payments will take the form of dividends for shareholders. As part of the project, the logistics platforms and inland ports of Basse and Kaur will also be built.
The Gambia’s government has started a six-month period of negotiations with Albayrak about the shareholder agreement through GPA. This entails discussing specifics like how many seats GPA will have on the board of directors, the management roles open to Gambians and GPA staff members, and other personnel-related issues.
Under the direction of Matarr Cesay of the Ministry of Transports, important members of the Gambia Ports Authority Board of Directors spent five days in Ghana last week studying the best practices, knowledge, and decision-making procedures in managing port concessions and landlord responsibilities from the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority.
The major purpose of Albayrak’s 20 million euro investment is to modernize Banjul Port, the only commercial port in the Gambia, so that it can continue to operate while the new Sanyang Port is being built. With a 30-year operation plan in place, the new Sanyang port is expected to be completed in six years. The strategic goal is to draw in ships that were previously rerouted to Senegal because of the antiquated infrastructure in the Gambia.
The general manager of Albayrak Construction, Yunus Yılmaz, stated that the initial €605 million investment will be completed in three stages. The port of Banjul will soon have more capacity and efficiency thanks to renovations and modernization, which will enable it can handle existing cargo traffic with appropriate efficiency. We want to finish this first phase investment within the first year.
Plans to increase the port’s capacity and efficiency are also included in the deal; these improvements will eventually strengthen the Gambia’s economy and generate employment opportunities for the local populace. The Gambia will be positioned as a major participant in the maritime industry of the area if the new Sanyang Deep Sea Port is equipped with state-of-the-art technologies from the outset to enable improved, seamless operations at the ports and allow larger boats to increase trade volume.
Three stages will comprise the development of the Sanyang Port project. Its objectives include managing dry bulk, liquid bulk, Ro-Ro, general cargo, and container terminal operations.
Banjul Port will first have to go through an essential repair process before Sanyang Port is permitted to start operations. The Albayrak Group has already begun demolishing important buildings that could delay Banjul’s port’s decongestion.
The Gambia Journal has discovered with certainty that a significant portion of the port area in Banjul will be used for real estate development after construction is finished. A sum of €585 million will be invested for this objective.
According to information specially obtained by The Gambia Journal, after Sanyang Port is fully operational, Banjul Port will be able to maintain minimal and necessary activities for six years. At that point, Banjul’s existing GPA landscape, covering over 100,000 square meters, will give way to a new metropolitan region. This construction will be the most opulent and contemporary project in the Gambia, with a bustling neighborhood with dining options, museums, and other social amenities.
The new urban area will function as the subregion’s and the capital city of the Gambia’s cultural and social core in addition to being a center for economic activity. It is anticipated that the conversion of Banjul’s former port into a sleek and contemporary area will draw tourists and investors, strengthen the local economy, and generate new job possibilities. Our source claims that “this project signifies a major step towards the country’s economic development and growth, with the potential to become Gambia’s premier destination.”
In contrast, the Sanyang Port project will require expenditures totaling 605 million euros, spread over three phases of construction: 253 million euros in the first five years, 145 million euros between 2029 and 2038, and 207 million euros between 2039 and 2053. It is anticipated that the total investment will come to 850 million euros, maybe even surpassing one billion euros.
“We also intend to construct a logistics hub and an industrial zone in the vicinity of the new Sanyang port. The general manager of the Albayrak Group’s building unit stated that the Sanyang port will serve as the hub of the area after all of these investments are finished.
One of Albayrak’s goals in the Gambia is to apply its diverse development knowledge from its fruitful projects in Guinea. at addition to managing the port at Conakry, Albayrak is involved in construction, agriculture, public transit, sanitation, and solid waste management. Their goal is to introduce a similar kind of diverse growth to the Gambia, establishing a new ecosystem that would support different sectors and local production.
According to our sources, Albayrak Group’s all-encompassing strategy for port operations in the Gambia holds the potential to transform the nation’s maritime infrastructure and promote economic expansion in a number of areas.
The Banjul-Sanyang Ports, the upcoming Banjul-Barra ferry, and Karpower’s energy sector are just a few of the major areas in The Gambia where the Albayrak Group is now investing.