Antigua and Barbuda plans US$100M Cargo Port Expansion

Antigua and Barbuda: The government of Antigua and Barbuda is considering different financing options for the proposed US$100 million expansion of the cargo port to enable the nation to position itself as a regional transshipment centre.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne said the additional facilities would enable the territory to carry a bigger percentage of the traffic in and out of the eastern Caribbean.

The proposed project would provide an extension to the deepwater harbour being developed in St. Johns. This facility has been funded by the Chinese and has helped transform the small island state into a major logistics and container transshipment hub in the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States.

The government has asked the Chinese company that was contracted to build the existing port to explore the option of funding the proposed expansion, Prime Minister Browne said.

The Government is also considering seeking support from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) as preliminary talks with the agency have revealed that there are funds available for projects of this nature in the region.

On the Browne and Browne show, he said “I was saying to my Cabinet colleagues, ‘We need about another US$100 million to expand the port facility to facilitate the transshipment business.’

However, the Prime Minister said his discussions with the DFC revealed that the agency does not give direct loans to governments.

Browne explained that the DFC’s loans are usually provided to private organisations that fund projects abroad.

He also said the government was compliant to that suggestion but would have preferred a direct government loan since they would want to make sure that the majority of the benefits accrued to the nation from its assets.

We will explore that option,” he said. “However, the officials will be looking at the rates and terms before they decide on the kind of partnership that would be mutually beneficial and if it would be a joint venture or not.

Brown assured that the existing cargo airport and the expanded facilities would belong to the nation.

He stressed that there was no diminution of the national assets and that the government’s position remained that it would benefit enormously if they retained ownership of their assets.

The proposed expansion is part of the government’s efforts to position the nation as a logistics and transshipment centre.