By: Fatou Dahaba
Operations at the Port of Banjul have improved since a follow-up performance audit flagged weaknesses in cargo handling, Transport Minister Ebrima Sillah has told the National Assembly, citing faster vessel turnaround, less congestion and ongoing works under the port concession.
The update came in the Gambia Ports Authority’s response to the National Assembly Public Enterprise Committee’s approved report and the GPA follow-up performance audit on cargo handling.
Sillah said average vessel turnaround time fell from 16 days and 15 hours in 2024 to 8 days and 20 hours in 2026 after the concession agreement took effect on 14 February 2025. He attributed the change to tighter coordination of berth and yard planning, cargo handling and documentation, which had sped up loading and discharge and cut delays caused by equipment downtime.
On congestion, the minister said the concessionaire had fully adopted standard container stacking and commissioned a new 15,000-square-meter container terminal at the former Half-Die area, adding capacity for about 1,000 TEUs. Rehabilitation inside the port had also freed stacking space, while continued use of the Inland Container Depot had eased pressure on the main facility.
Sillah addressed stevedoring concerns, saying labor restructuring was complete. Dock Labor Company Gambia Ltd, a private firm set up in 2023, now provides stevedoring services.
On oversight of the concession, he said GPA had created a dedicated Monitoring and Evaluation Unit to track the concession agreement and the government’s performance contract. Additional layers include a technical committee at GPA, a steering committee chaired by the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Transport, Works and Infrastructure, and a Cabinet sub-committee for strategic supervision.
The Board Audit Committee meets quarterly and reviews internal audit reports as part of the board’s statutory agenda, he added.
On infrastructure, Sillah said the concessionaire is responsible for rehabilitating the Port of Banjul and developing a deep-sea port at Sanyang. Civil works in Banjul are about 90 percent complete, and jetty rehabilitation is now underway.
The concessionaire has acquired four reach stackers, eco-hoppers, six trailers and two forklifts for cargo operations. Mobile harbor cranes and ship-to-shore gantry cranes are planned for the future Sanyang deep-sea port, he said, because existing berths in Banjul cannot support their load.
On rent waivers, Sillah noted that GPA, as regulator under the concession, is no longer directly involved in cargo handling. Rent charges now sit with the concessionaire, though a rent-waiver policy approved by the GPA Board in October 2023 remains in force for matters that predate the concession.
The minister presented the figures as evidence that audit findings had been acted on, while stressing that Sanyang remains the long-term solution for heavier equipment and deeper-draft traffic that Banjul’s current berths cannot take. Lawmakers received the response as part of their scrutiny of public enterprises and the concession’s first years of operation.
