RIYADH: Abu Dhabi’s AD Ports Group signed a 30-year concession agreement worth $200 million to develop and operate Egypt’s Safaga Port, according to a statement issued by the UAE-based company. “AD Ports Group will invest a total of up to $200 million in superstructure and equipment, buildings, and other real estate facilities and utilities’ network inside the concession area. The majority of this capex will be spent in 2024 and 2025,” the statement said. AD Ports Group signed the agreement with the Red Sea Ports Authority, making the Safaga Port the “first internationally operated port in the Upper Egypt region,” added the statement. The terminal’s development will save costs to traders, industries and businesses within the region, and will be operational in the second quarter of 2025. The project reportedly spans an area of around 810,000 sq. m and will boast a quay wall of almost 1,000 meters. In addition, it will manage 5 million tons of dry bulk, 1 million tons of liquid bulk, 450,000 twenty-foot equivalent units of containerized cargo, and 50,000 car-equivalent units of roll-on, roll-off cargo. “AD Ports Group’s significant concession agreement with the Red Sea Port Authority for the development of Safaga Port has the potential to play a major role in the global supply chain, evidencing, once again, that our key strategic partnerships in Egypt drive the advancement of the Group’s portfolio of value-added investments,” stated Mohamed Juma Al-Shamisi, managing director and group CEO of AD Ports Group. Two additional 15-year agreements, a memorandum of understanding, and three heads of terms concerning ports located in Egypt’s Red Sea region and the Mediterranean Sea were also signed, the statement said. These arrangements will facilitate access to multipurpose terminals, cruise routes, and logistics capabilities in cities around the Red Sea — Safaga, Ain Sokhna, Port Said, Hurghada, Sharm El-Sheikh and El-Arish. The 15-year agreements pertained to two cement terminals with an investment value of 1 billion Egyptian pounds ($33 million). The terminals will double Egypt’s cement exports to global markets and will become operational in the fourth quarter of this year. As for the MOU, it will focus on the development of the East Port Said multipurpose terminal, as well as enable potential collaborations in numerous transportation and infrastructure schemes. Three heads of terms were signed with the aim of fostering terminals in Egypt’s coastal cities of Sokhna, Hurghada and Sharm El-Sheikh. Al-Shamisi added: “AD Ports Group is committed to not only enabling new trade connections but also to providing strategic infrastructure solutions to boost tourism to aid the diversification of both our nation’s economies.”