Traffic at ICoast's Abidjan port jumps 87 pct in first half 2012
Goods traffic at Ivory Coast's main port of Abidjan jumped more than 87 percent in the first half of 2012 compared to the same period last year as the country rebounded from a brief post-election conflict that hobbled trade, port authorities said, Reuters reports.
Shipping via the port was timid from February to May 2011 due to violence which erupted after former president Laurent Gbagbo refused to recognise the election victory of rival Alassane Ouattara.
Ouattara, now president, called for a ban on cocoa exports from the world's top grower amid the unrest, a decision that was generally respected.
"Merchandise traffic and vessel traffic rose to 11,216,301 tonnes and 1,513 stop-overs respectively, compared to 5,994,755 tonnes and 834 stopovers through June 2011," a statement published by the port authority on Friday said.
Net profits for the autonomous port stood at 3.54 billion CFA francs ($6.98 million) during the first half of 2012, compared to just 548 million CFA francs during the same period last year.
"In terms of outlook, the Autonomous Port of Abidjan expects to maintain growth started in the first half throughout the second half," the statement said.
The port of Abidjan is one of the region's principal shipping hubs. The bulk of top grower Ivory Coast's cocoa exports passes through Abidjan, as do around 60 percent of goods entering and exiting land-locked Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
However, Abidjan lost ground to regional competitors over the past decade due to an intermittent conflict that discouraged outside investments and froze development until it ended after a brief war last year.
The port authority opened bidding in June for the construction and management of a second container terminal with a 1.5 million container capacity expected to be completed in 2016.
French industrial conglomerate Bollore announced plans last week to spend up to $79 million by 2015 to double capacity at the container terminal it manages at the port.
