News / AD Ports faces DP World in Luandan venture

The prospect of neighboring port operators from Dubai and Abu Dhabi locked in competition within a single port is set to become a reality, after AD Ports signed a joint-venture agreement that will see it enter the Angolan gateway port of Luanda.

The Abu Dhabi-based operator signed a series of agreements with local Angolan transport firms Unicargas and Multiparques, that led it to secure a 20-year concession with a further 10-year option with the Luanda Port Authority, to develop and operate a multipurpose facility in the port into a modern ro-ro and container operation.

This will place AD Ports in direct competition with its domestic neighbour and “role model” DP World, which has operated another multipurpose terminal in the port since March 2021 on the back of a $190m investment plan to upgrade its facilities – which in the short term will see overall capacity at Luanda increase 800,000 teu per year to 1.2m.

The AD Ports deal is likely to see that increase further – it has taken an 81% stake in the joint-venture that will operate the terminal, and a 90% stake in another joint-venture that will serve the facility and the broader Angolan logistics market.

Under the terms of the terminal concession agreement, the terminal will be expanded from 17.8ha to 19.2ha, the quay wall enlarged and the draft alongside deepened to 16 meters from the current 9.5 metres.

New container handling equipment will also be installed during the expansion project, which is due to be completed by the third quarter of 2026 and will boost container capacity from 25,000 teu to 350,000 teu, and ro-ro volumes to over 40,000 vehicles.

During the $250m, three-year redevelopment, the terminal’s container volumes will be handled at a nearby berth, while excess volumes will be moved to Multiparques’ Viana inland container depot (ICD).

Total investment is expected to rise to $380m over the course to the concession length.

“The Port of Luanda is not just Angola’s main maritime gateway; it is a critical hub for regional trade and economic vitality,” said Angola’s minister of transport Ricardo Daniel Sandão Queirós Viegas de Abreu.

“Through our strategic partnership with AD Ports Group, which is part of a broader effort involving multiple first-class stakeholders, we will transform the port into a modern, multi-faceted facility that will significantly enhance our logistic capacities and stimulate economic growth across Central-West Africa.”

A related joint-venture agreement with Unicargas will see AD Ports’ logistics subsidiary Noatum also enter Angola, managing “the movement of containers to Viana ICD and offer short and long-haul transport within Angola and to the neighbouring countries” and taking over management of Unicargas’ existing truck fleet with a commitment to further expand it.

“At Unicargas, we view our partnership with AD Ports Group as a transformative opportunity to leverage global expertise and resources, to accelerate the modernisation and expansion of the Port of Luanda and logistics infrastructure,” Joaquim Nazaré Pimentel da Piedade, Unicargas management committee coordinator, said.