Ivory Coast port operator to invest in inland logistics
Africa Global Logistics, which operates Ivory Coast's main port, plans to invest over €60m (R1.22bn) in inland logistics over the next five years to boost its position as a transport hub and gateway for landlocked West African nations.
The company plans to establish operational hubs across Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa and cashew producer, and develop dry warehouses equipped with cooling facilities, regional director Asta-Rosa Cisse told Reuters.
As well as operating Abidjan's main port, Africa Global Logistics handles shipments to and from landlocked neighbours Burkina Faso and Mali. The company, owned by Mediterranean Shipping Company, also handles other commodities including cotton, rubber, bananas, mangoes and palm oil.
"Abidjan suffers from centralisation, with everything converging on the port," Cisse said.
The company plans to decentralise operations by establishing hubs in Ferkessedougou in northern Ivory Coast, Bouake in the centre and San Pedro in the southwest, aiming to improve speed and efficiency, she said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Maverick
40 minutes ago
- Daily Maverick
Stocks slip, dollar droops as trade, geopolitical tensions weigh
Rising Middle East tension dents sentiment, lift oil, gold Markets give lukewarm reception to US-China truce agreement Trump's latest tariff salvo unnerves investors Soft US CPI sets stage for Fed meeting next week By Ankur Banerjee and Johann M Cherian SINGAPORE, June 12 (Reuters) – Global stocks and the dollar slipped on Thursday as investors sized up a benign US inflation report and the fragile trade truce between Washington and Beijing, while rising tensions in the Middle East and lingering tariff anxiety dented risk sentiment. Attention in financial markets this week has been on the US-China trade talks which culminated in a framework agreement that would remove Chinese export restrictions on rare earth minerals and allow Chinese students access to US universities. 'We made a great deal with China. We're very happy with it,' said US President Donald Trump. Markets though were guarded in their response, awaiting fuller, concrete details of the agreement and remained wary of another flare up. Trump also said the US would send out letters in one to two weeks outlining the terms of trade deals to dozens of other countries, which they could embrace or reject, adding yet another dose of uncertainty in the markets. 'The US China deal really just leaves the tariffs in place after they've been cut back following the Geneva meeting, so it doesn't really change things,' said Shane Oliver, head of investment strategy and chief economist at AMP Capital. 'Ultimately the trade tension is yet to be resolved between the US and China.' MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.3% lower in early trading after hitting a three year-high on Wednesday. Japan's Nikkei slipped 0.7%, while US and European stock futures fell. China's blue-chip stock index fell 0.37%, moving off the near three-week top it touched in the previous session. Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 0.74%, also inching away from Wednesday's three-month high. Trump's erratic tariff policies have roiled global markets this year, prompting hordes of investors to exit USassets, especially the dollar, as they worried about rising prices and slowing economic growth. The euro, one of the beneficiaries of the dollar's decline, rose to a seven-week high and was last at $1.1512. The Japanese yen was 0.4% firmer at 144.03 per dollar. That pushed the dollar index, which measures the US currency against six other key rivals, to its lowest level since April 22. The index is down 9% this year. Data on Wednesday showed US consumer prices increased less than expected in May as cheaper gasoline partially offset higher rents, but inflation is expected to accelerate in the coming months on the back of the Trump administration's import tariffs. The soft inflation report led Trump to renew his call for the Federal Reserve to push through a major rate cut. The president has been pressing for rate cuts for some time even as Fed officials have shrugged off his comments. Traders are pricing in a 70% chance of a quarter-point reduction in the Fed policy rate by September. Policymakers are widely expected to keep rates unchanged next week. AMP's Oliver said the higher prices will flow through either in the form of higher inflation or lower profit margins. 'I suspect it's probably going to be a combination of the two. Therefore it makes sense for the Fed to wait and see what happens rather than rushing into a rate cut.' In commodities, oil prices were pinned at two-month highs, close to $70 a barrel, on worries of supply disruptions in the Middle East after Iran said it will strike US bases in the region if nuclear talks fail and conflict arises with Washington. O/R Gold prices also got a boost from safe-haven flows, with spot gold up 0.5% at $3,370.29.
TimesLIVE
19 hours ago
- TimesLIVE
Nigeria's $5bn oil-backed loan from Aramco 'delayed by oil price drop'
Nigeria and Saudi Arabian oil company Aramco are struggling to reach an agreement on a record $5bn (R88.63bn) oil-backed loan after a recent decline in crude prices sparked concern among banks that were expected to back the deal, four sources told Reuters. The facility would be Nigeria's largest oil-backed loan to date and Saudi Arabia's first participation of this scale in the country, although the decline in oil price could shrink the size of the deal, the sources said. Nigeria's President Bola Tinubu, two of the sources said, first broached the loan in November when he met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyadh at the Saudi-African Summit. Details and progress on the loan talks have not been previously reported. The slow progress in discussions reflects the strain of the recent oil price drop, caused largely by a shift in OPEC+ policy to regain market share rather than curtail supply. Brent has fallen about 20% to around $65 per barrel from above $82 in January. A lower oil price means Nigeria could need more barrels to back the loan, but years of under-investment are complicating its ability to meet production goals. Tinubu sought approval for $21.5bn (R381.10bn) in foreign borrowing last month to bolster the budget, and the $5bn oil-backed facility under discussion with Aramco would be part of that, sources said.
TimesLIVE
a day ago
- TimesLIVE
South African macadamia farmers eye Asian markets after US tariff jolt
But US President Donald Trump's drive to impose higher tariffs could disrupt that. Though the 'reciprocal' levies announced by Trump on April 2 — set at 31% for South Africa — have been paused to allow for negotiations, Likhanya said he and fellow macadamia nut farmers were already looking for alternative markets. 'I believe there's much more we can do internationally to explore other markets. There are markets we are talking to. We're talking to India,' Likhanya, 40, told Reuters in an interview at his farm. 'India has 1.5-billion people that are also looking for macadamia. So there's an alternative plan.' Other South African farmer groups have warned of potential devastation from the US tariffs. Citrus growers, whose annual exports to the US average $100m (R1.77bn), have said tariffs could potentially hit 35,000 jobs in their industry. Likhanya, a board member at Macadamias South Africa, the main industry body for growers, described the tariff stand-off as a 'lose-lose' situation and hopes it can be resolved. 'America imports kernels which they further process. Those [processing] jobs are threatened. So it's a win-win or lose-lose situation, which I believe we do not want to get into,' he said
