West Africa To Get First Ship Repair Dock

West Africa is set to get its first commercial-scale ship repair and dry docking facility, following the achievement of financial close on the US$137 million Takoradi floating dock project (Shiprite) in Ghana.

Located in the western Port of Takoradi, Project Shiprite will see the local Prime Meridian Docks (PMD) develop, build and operate a commercial-scale ship repair and dry docking facility in the Gulf of Guinea through a 25-year concession agreement with the Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority (GPHA).

The scope of the project comprises the construction of a 200-metre jetty adjacent to the floating dock pocket; dredging of 300,000 cubic metres of rock from the seabed within the port basin; procuring and installing a 13,500-tonne lift capacity floating dock; and setting up an integrated workshop comprising main offices, a main warehouse, workshops, and an equipment maintenance shop.

The facility will service various types of vessels such as container vessels, bulk carriers, tankers and drilling rigs, as well as offshore support vessels. The repair and maintenance scope includes dockage, hull part, engine works, electrical, and general and auxiliary services.

Once built, vessels up to 200 metres in length will be able to undertake mandatory dry docking and ad-hoc repairs, avoiding the need to sail 10-14 days to Walvis Bay in Namibia, or Las Palmas in Spain for service. The yard will also offer retrofitting and other energy-efficient modifications required in line with shipping’s energy transition.

It is anticipated that Project Shiprite will establish Ghana as a regional maritime hub as well as a preferred oil and gas hub, significantly reducing vessel downtime and improving efficiency. Beyond this, the project is expected to create employment opportunities, strengthen local capacity, reduce vessel downtime, retain foreign exchange within the region and contribute to lower CO2 emissions (180,000 tonnes a year) by reducing long-distance voyages for ship repairs.

The floating dock scheme has been planned for several years and received its final push towards actualisation when the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG), a multilateral private investment mobiliser, joined the investor consortium to close the final funding gap through its project development solution InfraCo.

The consortium includes the ARM-Harith Infrastructure Fund, an infrastructure and climate fund manager in West Africa, which is providing equity investment, as well as the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) as the mandated lead arranger, African Development Bank (AfDB), Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank (TDB), and Ghana’s Petra Pension Schemes and Origen Private Debt Fund, which will provide senior and mezzanine financing.

In an exclusive interview with ConstructAfrica, ARM-Harith investment director Adaobi Nnorukah revealed that construction is scheduled to begin imminently on the dock and conclude in 24 months.

Nnorukah also revealed that the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor is China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), while Hamburg-based Sellhorn Ingenieurgesellschaft is the project management consultant and Scotland’s Rigmar Services the consultant for operations.

“As a longstanding development and equity partner to the sponsor, [PMD], ARM-Harith worked closely with the team from an early stage to overcome the project's bankability challenges and shape the commercial and financing structure that made it investable,” Nnorukah said. “We then committed both equity and mezzanine financing, taking a meaningful position across the capital structure.

“The project aligns squarely with our objectives. As a strategic piece of maritime infrastructure serving Ghana and the wider Gulf of Guinea, this project is exactly the kind of asset our fund was built to support: essential infrastructure that strengthens local economies, deepens industrial capacity and creates long-term value. Add to this the expectation of risk-adjusted returns and a resilient sponsor who has remained steadfast throughout the journey, and it is easy to see why we got involved in this project.”

The investment director noted that at its peak, the shipyard will create an estimated 430 full-time equivalent jobs, with 30% reserved for female workers.

Asked why the Port of Takoradi was chosen over other regional ports for the project, Nnorukah listed several reasons such as the fact that the port has seen significant investments by the government of Ghana, which has upgraded the port into a modern export-oriented facility. In addition, the port is located in Ghana, which enjoys political and economic stability, and it is also situated in proximity to offshore assets in places such as Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire, placing it in an optimum location to capture demand from offshore and merchant vessel traffic.

Speaking to ConstructAfrica, PIDG senior investment manager Bertrand Ketchassi echoed many of these sentiments, naming three key factors behind the investment.

“First, there is a well-established market need,” Ketchassi said. “West Africa has significant maritime activity, driven by shipping, offshore energy, fishing and trade, yet the region remains underserved in terms of modern ship repair and maintenance infrastructure. As a result, many vessels are forced to travel outside the region for servicing.

“Second, the project has a strong development impact. ShipRite will create skilled jobs, support local supply chains, strengthen Ghana's maritime sector and retain economic value that would otherwise leave the country.

“Third, the project has the potential to be transformational for Ghana's industrial and maritime ecosystem. By establishing a modern ship repair facility in Takoradi, Ghana can strengthen its position as a regional maritime services hub and support broader economic growth linked to trade, logistics and offshore industries.

“More broadly, PIDG's role is often to support infrastructure projects at a stage where risk capital is needed to bring them to financial close and ultimately attract wider private sector investment. ShipRite is a strong example of that approach in practice.”

Ketchassi also noted the importance of projects such as the Takoradi floating dock to enabling the operation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

“The success of AfCFTA will depend not only on trade policy but also on infrastructure,” he said. “Trade cannot grow efficiently without reliable transport networks, logistics platforms, energy infrastructure, digital connectivity and industrial facilities. This is where infrastructure investment becomes critical.

“Projects such as ports, logistics corridors, power infrastructure and maritime facilities help reduce the cost of doing business across borders and improve regional competitiveness. They create the physical foundations that allow trade agreements to translate into real economic activity.

“In the case of Shiprite, while the project is located in Ghana, its relevance extends beyond Ghana's borders. The facility is expected to serve vessels operating across the West African region, supporting regional trade and maritime activity.”

Ketchassi also touched on the effects the Iran crisis is having on African economies and markets, noting how the floating dock can help mitigate some of the negative impact.

“The recent tensions have once again highlighted the importance of global maritime trade routes. Any disruption to the Strait of Hormuz, for example, can impact energy markets, shipping costs and vessel deployment patterns worldwide.

“In recent years, we have already seen shipping companies reroute vessels away from traditional routes through the Suez Canal and instead around the Cape of Good Hope to avoid geopolitical and security risks. These longer routes increase transit times, fuel consumption and operating costs for vessel owners.

“For Africa, this can create economic challenges through higher freight and energy costs. However, it also reinforces the strategic importance of maritime infrastructure around the continent. As shipping routes evolve, ports and maritime service hubs along the African coastline become increasingly important. Projects such as Shiprite contribute to strengthening that maritime ecosystem by providing critical repair and maintenance capacity within the region, helping vessel operators reduce downtime and supporting the long-term development of Africa's maritime industry.”

Nnorukah concurred. “Geopolitical shifts such as the US-Iran war have brought into sharp focus the importance of maritime transport to global trade and world economies,” she said. “For Africa, it has buttressed the need for the continent to develop shortsea shipping as a way of simultaneously boosting intra-regional trade, increasing economic security, reducing reliance on international shipping and reducing emissions from shipping.”

Another notable aspect of the Takoradi floating dock scheme is the involvement of a Ghanaian pension fund in the project financing. Petra Pension Schemes is providing senior debt, a move Claire Jarratt, PIDG’s head of investment management for InfraCo, says is “pioneering the involvement of a local pension provider in the region’s infrastructure finance ecosystem, setting the stage for future similar investments”.

ARM-Harith CEO Rachel More-Oshodi says pension funds are one of the most underutilised but potentially transformational sources of long-term capital for infrastructure development in Africa, noting that the funds are built to deliver stable, long-term returns over decades, which makes them ideally suited for financing the roads, power systems, transport and digital infrastructure the continent’s economies desperately need.

The AfDB, with its New African Financial Architecture for Development (NAFAD), shares the sentiment, noting that Africa holds an estimated US$4 trillion in pension and sovereign wealth funds, and similar savings mechanisms. Under NAFAD, these resources are set to be marshalled and leveraged to leverage the continent’s capital and, in new president Sidi Ould Tah’s words: “make every dollar work like 10”.

Top photo: Rendering of Takoradi floating dock (Source: ARM-Harith)