The 2030s could be a defining decade for the continent of Africa. The impact of climate change, the transformation of technology and population growth looks set to alter the world, but also the continent drastically.
Africa’s ability to adapt to and thrive in this changing world will be driven in large part by how it is able to develop economically and meet the challenges it is inevitably set to face. There is hope for Africa in this sense. Across the continent, significant investment is being pumped in to help set the foundations for prosperity. A new £1 billion port set to handle up to 35 million tons of cargo yearly might just sit at the heart of any bright African future.
Dakhla Atlantic Port sits in the disputed territory of Western Sahara and is set to be completed in 2028. Once open, it is hoped that the port will open up West Africa for imports and exports and boost trade across the region.
The project includes a bridge linking the port and land and a four-mile road connecting the port with a massive highway that extends all the way from Tangier to Mauritania.
It’s part of Morocco’s national port strategy to modernise and strengthen them by 2030 to become a more important player in global supply chains.
Nisrine Iouzzi, the director of construction for the Dakhla Atlantic Port, said “we’re constrcuting an ecoysystem” with the regeneration scheme.
She told CNN, “The geographic location is key to the success of the port”, which will boost the Moroccan economy and help it become more important in the world of maritime trade.
The port is located 40km from Dakhla, a small desert and coastal city currently occupied by Morocco.
It is however the subject of a territory dispute, with the liberation movement the Polisario Front claiming it as an independent state.
The UN calls it a “non-self-governing territory”.
Morocco currently controls around 80% of the Western Sahara and claims sovereignty over Daklha.
The British Government has labelled the status of Western Sahara as “undetermined”, but it supports the UN’s efforts to achieve an “acceptable political solution that provides for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara”.
The territory is the most sparsely populated in Africa and the second most sparsely populated in the world, providing ample space for construction or an industrial zone that could transform the fortunes of West Africa.