Algeria: Government Freezes Foreign Investments In Dry Ports

Extra-port storage areas of goods, called “dry ports” have since they started to multiply, from 2009, siphoned more than $ 2 billion dollars from the national port enterprises.

In comments made on Sunday on the French-speaking “Channel 3” of the Algerian national Radio, about such a situation besetting the country’s dry ports which he described as a “serious drift”, the Director of the Merchant Marine and Ports, from Ministry of Transport, Mr Mohamed Benboushaki, attributed the responsibilities of such an adverse situation to “diluted negligence” and a state of “laissez-faire”.

He explained that the planning permission for a storage area of goods transported by sea had initially been given to the benefit of the single port of Algiers, to allow it to unclog its docks.

“Eventually, he emphasized, it is because we let it happen that these storage areas owned by foreign companies began to proliferate in the vicinity of all the fifteen commercial port areas of the country.”

The worst of it,  he noted, is that the managers of these “dry ports” impose rates four or five times higher than those applied by the management of Algerian port infrastructures by diverting away, again, a large part of the ports’ activities. “

Mr. Benboushaki who is also president of the port group at  the Ministry of Transport announced that in view of stopping these prohibitive practices, the State shareholders’ Committee (EPC) decided on February 15, to freeze the creation of such structures.

“Henceforth, he explained, only after securing prior authorization from the national port managements that goods carried by ships could exceptionally be dispatched”.

Commenting on the restructuring of the Algerian maritime pavilion, Mr Benboushaki announced Algeria’s reception “in about 6 or 8 months” of new ships meant to beef up the CNAN Company’s Fleet.

 “In a few years’ time, he said, we should have acquired 18 new vessels for transporting 30% of freight against the current 2% and the remainder will be provided by foreign ship-owners in exchange for nearly $ 4 billion dollars per year”.

In order to ensure the commandment and maintenance of these new units, Mr. Benboushaki affirmed that a first batch of 160 mechanical engineers is currently undergoing sustained training at the Institute of Maritime Studies of Bou Smail, on the western coast of Algiers.