Africa-Press – Cape verde. The Minister of the Sea announced today that the international tender for the construction of the third phase of the Porto Grande port in Mindelo, with an estimated investment of €83 million, will be launched on February 28th.
Jorge Santos was speaking while presiding over the signing of cooperation protocols between Enapor – Ports of Cape Verde and the port authorities of Sines and Algarve, as well as the port authorities of Lisbon, Setúbal, and Sesimbra, all in Portugal.
According to the minister, with the expansion, Porto Grande will gain an additional 400 meters and will have new terminals, mainly in terms of transshipment, in addition to increasing bunkering capacity.
“We are going to double the size of our port, with a view to extending, modernizing, and transforming the Port of Mindelo into a transatlantic port of that level, and increasing the capacity to offer services nationally, but also in the Mid-Atlantic region,” he explained.
Furthermore, according to the governor, the Porto Novo port in Santo Antão will gain a 275-meter extension, allowing large cruise ships to dock or enabling large vessels departing from Portugal or any other origin to unload their cargo at that port.
According to Jorge Santos, the Government is also planning the third phase of the Port of Palmeira, on the island of Sal, considering that it is located on a tourist island that receives more than 420,000 tourists per year.
According to the minister, the Government also plans to prioritize, in the next government cycle, expansion and modernization works at the Port of Praia, to build the Praia-Dakar-Abidjan corridor, as well as the modernization of the Port of Tarrafal in São Nicolau, in its fishing sector, and the Port of Vale de Cavaleiros, on the island of Fogo.
Regarding the protocols signed between Enapor and the ports of Portugal, the minister considered that they demonstrate Cape Verde’s alignment with the best practices in the world, since they establish the development of joint initiatives in the areas of innovation, logistics, sustainability, security, and training.
For the chairman of the board of directors of Enapor, Ireneu Camacho, this cooperation is “particularly relevant,” as it allows the company to “accelerate innovation processes, strengthen technical skills,” and bring the Cape Verdean port system closer to international standards of “efficiency, security, and sustainability.”
In turn, the chairman of the board of directors of the ports of Sines and Algarve, Pedro Ramos, stated that in Sines there are more than 20 regular routes connecting this city in the Setúbal district to the rest of Europe and the world.
Therefore, he stressed that “including Cape Verde in this Europe-Africa-America axis, through the Atlantic, is absolutely fundamental.”
But, he emphasized, the most important thing is “to sign and execute these protocols.” Pedro Ramos stated that “there are several areas” they intend to develop with Cape Verde, including “digitalization to simplify processes, decarbonization, cybersecurity, and capacity building and qualification” of people.
The chairman of the board of directors of the Port of Lisbon, the Port of Setúbal, and the Port of Sesimbra, Vítor Caldeirinha, considered that the ports of both countries can “exchange technical experiences,” with emphasis on “decarbonization, digitalization, concessions, capacity building, and training.”
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