By: OrePulse

Ghana's President John Dramani Mahama broke ground on November 11 on a $98.41 million project to build a new berth at Takoradi Port, a step aimed at easing a capacity squeeze on the facility that handles the country's mineral ore exports and dry bulk imports. The announcement formed part of a wider package of transport and logistics commitments unveiled at the same event, covering a shipyard facility, rail upgrades and additional ports alongside the berth project itself.

The new facility, to be known as Berth 19, will run 300 meters along the port's dry bulk terminal and is expected to take 26 months to complete, putting its expected completion around early 2029 if the timeline holds. It is designed to let the port handle more mineral ore for export as well as more bulk imports such as clinker, an input used by cement manufacturers to produce finished cement.

Mahama said the port's existing dry bulk terminal was "constrained" even after earlier rounds of work, and that demand for capacity had kept rising beyond what the terminal could handle. He pointed to investment in the port dating back to 2012, including dredging work that has already let larger vessels call there, with some now drawing as much as 16 meters. He described the new berth as "very important" to the port's future operations.

At the same ceremony, Mahama's government also began work on a separate project to build a floating dry dock at the port, which he described as the first scheme carried out under Ghana's Growth Partnership with the United Kingdom. He did not elaborate on the dry dock's cost or expected completion date.

The president tied the berth project to a wider plan to prioritize upgrades to Ghana's Western Railway Line, to be carried out in two phases. The first phase would extend the line to Nyinahini to move bauxite from mining areas, while the second would carry it further along the Western Corridor to Hamile in the Upper West Region, connecting Ghana's port network with landlocked Burkina Faso.

Officials at the event also said the International Finance Corporation had agreed to help finance a privately led port project at Esikuma, and that a separate new port was planned for Debre in the Savannah Region. Both projects, they said, are intended to support a Volta Corridor trade route and to give Burkina Faso an additional sea-access option alongside its existing links through Ghana's southern ports. Officials did not give cost estimates or construction timelines for either the Esikuma or Debre schemes in the remarks reported from the ceremony.

Mahama framed the announcements as part of his government's "Accra Reset" agenda, calling for long-term, "patient" sources of capital for infrastructure that he said would reduce African economies' reliance on external support and lower the cost of borrowing for large projects such as the Berth 19 expansion.

Takoradi Port dates to the colonial era, when it was built mainly to export commodities such as timber, cocoa, bauxite and manganese, officials said. It has since evolved into a hub handling both imports and exports, a role the Berth 19 project is meant to reinforce by adding dedicated capacity for dry bulk cargo moving in both directions through the port.

The contractor, financier and operator for the Berth 19 project were not named at the ceremony, and no timeline was given for announcing them.

For video coverage of the event, you can watch President Mahama Cuts Sod For Takoradi Port Dry Bulk Terminal Project, which features footage from the official groundbreaking ceremony in Takoradi.