Mota-Engil Africa has signed a €230 million contract with DP World for the first phase of Banana Port in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Reuters reported the agreement on 21 March 2025, citing the contractor's announcement the previous day. The stated duration is twenty-four months; the figure concerns the first-phase contract, not an announced price for every subsequent expansion.
The planned terminal
DP World's 20 March statement places the project in Kongo Central province on the Atlantic coast. Its first-phase specification includes:
- A quay measuring 600 metres.
- Annual container-handling capacity of 450,000 twenty-foot equivalent units.
- A storage area covering thirty hectares.
The operator says a second phase would extend the quay wall by more than two kilometres. It also describes centralised administrative and customs operations for containerised maritime trade. These are planned facilities and functions, rather than a report of completed construction or cargo already handled.
An agreement predating the construction contract
The project has an earlier contractual history. In December 2021, DP World and the government signed a collaboration agreement following amendments to an initial contract from 2018. The announcement described Banana's location on the country's short Atlantic coastline and anticipated more direct calls by larger ships from Asia and Europe.
That earlier statement envisaged construction beginning within twelve months. Its timetable was a stated intention at the time, not evidence that the intended start subsequently occurred.
Investment alongside the operator
An August 2024 announcement, reported by Energy Connects, set out British International Investment's commitment of up to $35 million for the first phase, as a minority investor alongside DP World.
The development framework also described a free zone and multimodal connections towards Kinshasa through Boma and Matadi. Capacity would grow in stages. Forecast improvements in trade and employment were expectations associated with the development, not measured results of the newly announced construction contract.