Necotrans to manage Kribi port terminal

The French group, Necotrans confirms the reorientation of its strategy toward global logistics in Africa. The firm filed on 13th October a file to the selection Committee for the management of logistics in the Kribi deep Sea port.

Necotrans has already recorded several successes recently. In May 2014, the French group got the management of the bulk terminal of Dakar (Senegal) and that of the port river of Brazzaville (Congo) where it will invest 74 and 15 million euros respectively.

The company also has interest in Eastern Africa where the oil boom is expected to generate strong logistical needs. For the time being, its topicality is marked by the ambition of relocating to Cameroon where Necotrans indeed filed on 13th October a file to the selection Committee for the management of the versatile Kribi terminal.

It has already been selected for the conventional terminal. In the previous week, the French Group had filed an offer for the terminal container at Kribi, which was unsuccessful. It thus confirmed its ambitions in Africa and its strategy to focus on global logistics. Necotrans is also considering investments in rail corridors, not as an investor, but as an operator.

Involved in port and logistics activities, transportation commission, logistics oil and mining equipment, Necotrans distribution applies to diversify its know-how with the aim of strengthening its positions on the continent, West and North Africa (Algeria, Morocco). The Moroccan Kingdom is a fundamental base to consolidate its presence in North Africa, a historic global presence in Africa.

Aware of the new continental paradigms, Necotrans reorganizes as a result that "Africa is a market carrier, 3,500 people present in 42 countries - including 33 ports in Africa.

The population is rising sharply, middle class begins to emerge and mining, oil and gas activities are new developments. African logistics flow, which represents approximately 15 billion euros in turnover annually, should double by 2020", says Grégory Quérel, CEO of the group.

According to the African Development Bank, the volume that passes through African ports will increase by 265 million tonnes in 2009 to more than $ 2 billion in 2040. Necotrans intends to focus on the port trades off containers, which represent 70% of the activity.

The reorganization of the Group also involves the obtaining of funding of about EUR 110 million from Natixis, Société Générale, BNP-Paribas and Credit Switzerland, as well as Pan-African banks: Attijariwafa Bank, Bank of Africa and Ecobank. It cannot be an African actor without resorting to the African finance", explains Grégory Quérel.

In order to consolidate its position in Africa, the reorganization of the group responds to a desire to avoid a head-on competition with its french counterpart Bolloré.

The two groups are competing for the management of logistics in several ports of Central and West Africa, one of the examples being the port of Abidjan in Côte d'Ivoire.