Albayrak Group, one of Türkiye's historic companies, has made a significant new investment in Africa. By winning the international tender for the port in Gambia, Albayrak signed a 30-year concession contract with the Gambia Ports Authority.
The concession contract signing ceremony, held yesterday in Gambia, was attended by Albayrak Holding's Vice Chairman of the Board, Nuri Albayrak, Deputy General Manager for Business Development Salih Levent Kaçar, Legal Advisor Adnan Üçcan, Türkiye's Ambassador to Gambia Türker Oba, and company representatives.
Credit Photo: Nouvelle Aube / Nouvelle Aube
Gambian Delegation
On the Gambian side, the signing ceremony was attended by Minister of Transport Ebrima Sillah, Minister of Finance Seedy Keita, and President of the Gambia Ports Authority, Ousmane Jobarteh.
Yunus Yılmaz, General Manager of Albayrak Construction, discussed the details and economic impact of the new port in Sanyang:
"The €605 million investment will be carried out in three phases. Initially, the rehabilitation and modernization of the Banjul port will quickly increase its capacity and efficiency, adequately and effectively handling current cargo traffic. This first phase investment will be completed within the first year. The current port's location in downtown Banjul poses many problems for both the city and the port. To prevent these issues from becoming more complex and to meet future needs, we plan to build a new modern port in the Sanyang region and relocate the Banjul port out of the city. An investment of €585 million will be made for this purpose. We also plan to build an industrial zone and a logistics center around the new port. Once all these investments are completed, the Sanyang port will become the nerve center of the region."
Yılmaz emphasized that Albayrak Group's success in managing ports in Somalia, Guinea, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Azerbaijan was key to securing new port concessions:
"Our extensive field experience was crucial in winning new contracts. For the Banjul port, we proposed a future-oriented port project, different from the original specifications, which was the decisive factor in winning the contract. We explained that developing the Banjul port in the city center would only serve Gambia, but relocating it outside the city would serve a broader area, including neighboring countries. They were impressed by this visionary project and accepted our offer. Our global competitors remained confined to the established framework. Another major factor in our success in this tender was our field experience in Africa. They specifically came to see our investments and operations at the Conakry port. Conakry port has achieved peak performance over the past three years and has been the top port in West Africa consecutively. Ships arriving at the port unload their cargo without waiting at anchor, reducing ship delay costs to zero."
Yunus Yılmaz highlighted that the port is the only exit point for Gambia's international trade: "The current Banjul port is inefficient. Due to delays and waiting times, ships prefer to dock at Dakar port in nearby Senegal. This increases the logistics costs of imported goods like wheat and rice, affecting the final price for consumers. Albayrak's arrival will solve this problem. Products arriving at the port will be directly transported to consumers without passing through other countries, reducing logistics costs and product prices. Moreover, the port integrated with industrial zones to be established around it will also become an attraction for international investors. With the new port, foreign direct investment in the country will increase."
