Risk Management in Transport PPP Projects
In the Islamic Countries
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public party is in charge of the infrastructural works (in particular widening of the Vridi canal,
then building the wharves and backfilling). Therefore, the state has retained a large part of the
design and construction risks of the project, and in this respect this PPP is a rather atypical
project, combining of a preliminary large public investment which then triggers the investment
private party to complete the functionality of the terminal and start the commercial activities.
Project preparation and procurement. The tender for the PPP of the second container terminal
was launched on June 2012, based on the documentation developed by the contracting
authorities, which also included technical and financial feasibility studies. The tendering process
was in two stages with preselection of the qualitied companies based on technical and economical
capacity. The award of the contract was based on the economically most advantageous offer,
including a mix of technical and financial criteria. In the procurement process, the public
authority was supported by international legal and financial consultants. Three of the submitted
offers (all from major international players in the logistics and maritime sector) qualified to the
final selection and the contract was finally awarded in March 2013 to a consortium including
Bolloré Transport & Logistics (BTL), APM Terminal (a subsidiary of Maersk) and Bouygues. It is
worth mentioning that BTL is also concessionaire of the first container terminal in the Port of
Abidjan.
Contract negotiation and financing. Contract negotiations took around 6 months and were
concluded with the signature of the PPP Concession agreement on the 19th of December 2013.
According to the available information, the contractor shall invest up to EUR 450 million over the
concession period, which is covered by a mix of equity and corporate commercial financing. Once
the PPP contract was signed, the financing of the public infrastructural works (in particular
widening of the Vridi canal, then building the wharves and backfilling - that are under the
responsibility of the Porth Authority) was arranged one year later, at the end of 2014: a state loan
from the Export-Import Bank of China (Eximbank) is covering 85% of the investment, the
remaining part being financed by the Port Authority by own resources.
Concerning the financial rules set in the concession agreement, the contractor is entitled to the
right to be remunerated by its clients for the use of the terminal facilities, and in turn pays to the
Conceding Authority a fix annual fee (EUR 22 million, related to the area included in the
concession) and a share of the variable revenue from shippers. Additional financial obligation
for the contractor is the payment of an initial one-off fee to the conceding authority (EUR 122
million) and the pre-defined target of a minimum traffic volume at the opening year.
As a conclusion of the procurement process, it is worthmentioning that the concession agreement
was finally approved by the presidential decree n 22/2014, dated 22 January 2014; the decree,
inclusive of the entire concession agreement and its annexes, was then published on the
National Bulletin.
Construction phase. According to the original time plan, the opening of the new terminal
container was scheduled in 2018. However, following the arrangement of the state loan with
Eximbank, and the subsequent award of the construction works of the channel and the berth