Dutch consultancy Maritime and Transport Business Solutions (MTBS) has won a contract with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to identify potential public private partnerships (PPPs) port projects in Africa and prepare business cases to launch them.

The 7 months PPP study which was signed on May 5th involves:

• Collection of data and information of major ports in Africa,
• Assessments of the major ports, from the viewpoint of capacity and  efficiency, challenges and constraints, potential, development needs, readiness for the development, PPP opportunities etc.,
• Preparation of a summary of the data and information of major ports in Africa,
• Case study of PPP port projects,
• Field surveys for further collection of data and information, as well as discussion with stakeholders,
• Preparation of detailed proposals for the Bank's financing for PPP port projects, and
• Preparation of detailed proposals for the Bank's advisory/knowledge services to assist the public sector in preparation of PPP port projects.

According to MTBS, traffic in African ports is expected to climb from 320 million tonnes a few years ago to 635 million tonnes in 2020. The firm notes that African ports are a major bottleneck for the economic growth of the continent, and estimates they need investment exceeding US$5 billion per year.

The online magazine Port Finance International reported three days ago that MTBS believes the Port Development and Management Company (PDMC) is gaining importance for greenfield port developments in Africa.

According to MTBS, the PDMC is a public-private joint venture that combines the features of a landlord port and a private Build Operate Transfer (BOT) port type. This structure adds private sector capital, expertise and risk allocation to the traditional public landlord role, says MTBS.