Port de Pointe Noire's "Priority Investment Programme" is a EUR 128 million package of works which includes reconstruction of quays, extension of the dyke, dredging, water and electricity works, acquisition of tug boats and patrol boats. This public programme is complemented by a more than EUR 200 million investment programme of the private concessionaire for the container terminal (transhipment platform, handling equipment). This comprehensive programme aims at enabling the Port to increase traffic by accommodating larger and deeper vessels and by increasing handling and storage capacities.
The EUR 128 million public investment programme is financed by long term loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB), Agence Française de Développement (AFD), Banque de Développement des États de l’Afrique Centrale (BDEAC) and through self-financing by the Port Autonome de Pointe Noire (PAPN). All the works were completed in May 2014. Traffic has increased by 45% since 2008 (8.6 million tons in 2014 vs 5.9 million in 2008) and container traffic has more than doubled (620 thousand twenty-foot equivalent units in 2014 vs 266 thousand in 2008).
All construction works are now completed. The works undertaken by the Concessionaire to expand the handling area are on-going. 100% of the AFD loan and 90% of the EIB loan have been disbursed.
The EU-AITF TA has been used to improve the financial management of PAPN by providing training and support to the staff, upgrading the accounting information systems, implementing better control procedures and contributing to the maintenance of the financial projection model. It has also enabled the Port to improve its environmental management with the assistance from BRL Ingénierie. Since 2012, the Port Authority has been assisted by KPMG on accounting, internal auditing and cash management issues with various diagnosis reports produced. KPMG and the Port are currently working on the elaboration of new procedures for procurement, billing, cash management, fixed assets management, pay management. In march 2015, a consultant (WAZA) was contracted to upgrade the Port's Enterprise Resource Planning system (the new ERP implemented in 2015) and BRL Ingénierie assisted the Port Authority to improve the environmental management of the port.