In Rwanda, East Africa’s first inland dry port has commenced operations. It is hoped that the US$80 million facility will help transform the country into a regional hub for intra-African trade, forming an important link by accessing two secure trade gateways – the port of Mombasa in Kenya and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
As reported by Construction Review Online, this follows after Dubai-based global port operator DP World (DPW) was granted a 25-year concession to develop an inland port with an annual capacity of 50 000 TEUs and 640 000 tons of warehousing space in 2016.
Situated 20 km from Kigali, the 13 ha port features an inland container terminal with modern warehousing capacity, container yard, administrative and services buildings, cargo holding capacity and modern machinery.
A road transport network that will allow clients to outsource end-to-end logistics needs such as international shipments, clearances, repacking and final deliveries will also be established.
CEO of DPW Logistics Rwanda Sumeet Bhardwaj says the port will officially be launched between January and February 2019.
