Gambia: African Development Bank pledges $20.56 million grants to further improve Banjul Port | African Development Bank

The board of directors of the African Development Fund (ADF), the African Development Bank Group’s concessional window, on Thursday approved grants worth $20.56 million to fund the fourth expansion of the Gambia’s Banjul Port.

Funding consists of an ADF grant of $13.71 million and an additional $6.85 million from the Transition Support Facility window. The project will also receive a $450,000 grant from the Africa Adaptation Acceleration Program (AAAP), a joint initiative between the African Development Bank and the Global Center on Adaptation, for technical assistance to integrate climate resilience into the expansion. AAAP will use advanced climate analytics to identify and quantify the impact of physical climate risks on port infrastructure and provide adaptation investment options to make it climate resilient.

The expansion will be financed in parallel with a private investor who will be competitively selected by the Gambian government. The World Bank and the African Development Bank supported the previous expansions of the Banjul port.

The fourth expansion program includes an extension of the harbor jetty by 345 meters to accommodate up to three ships at a time instead of one now. It also envisages the expansion of the container terminal area by 22,000 m2² to create space for unloading ships, replace a non-functioning ferry at the junction of Banjul and Bara and widen port access roads by 3 km to ease congestion. Information and communication processing systems are also being purchased for efficient links between customs and the terminal operating system.

Upgrading the port will significantly reduce ship turnaround time and reduce costly congestion and surcharges, helping to reduce the cost of ocean freight and demurrage. The works will increase the facility’s capacity to handle growing traffic and improve the efficiency of operations and management as procedures are digitized. The introduction of green and low-carbon ferries will make the port infrastructure more climate-friendly and climate-proof. The project is also expected to empower women’s groups through gender-sensitive procurement and create jobs, especially for young people.

At the end of November 2022, the Bank Group had 12 active operations in the Gambia, worth $166.6 million. Eighty percent (80%) of this is funded through the ADF window. The transport sector represents 55.6% of the portfolio, the largest share, followed by agriculture and rural development at 24%. Projects in the energy sector make up 12% of the portfolio.