Under the Tchologo sun, the earthmoving machines did not wait for the speeches to move forward. In Ferkessédougou, what was only a government promise 5 years ago is now becoming a tangible project, where buildings and warehouses are literally emerging from the ground. This is what the Minister of Infrastructure and Road Maintenance, Yacouba Hien Sié, was able to draw up during his recent visit, as part of a ministerial tour that began two days earlier in neighboring Bounkani. According to Abdoulaye Alliagui, coordinator of the Project Management Unit, the work execution rate now exceeds 30%. The earthworks are well advanced, several buildings have emerged and certain warehouses are entering the finishing phase.The foundations of future hydrocarbon deposits have also been launched, with overall delivery still announced for the end of 2028.

Launched in 2021 for an investment of around 254 billion FCFA, financed 85% by Chinese banks via ICBC and 15% by the State Ivorian, the project is executed by the Chinese company Complant, under the project management of the State through the UGP-PSF. Built on an area of ​​approximately 732 hectares, the structure should ultimately relieve congestion in the port of Abidjan while providing the north of the country with direct access to import-export flows. The presence of the Director General of the Autonomous Port of Abidjan alongside the Minister is not anecdotal.For Kassoum Traoré, this visit was an opportunity to measure the evolution of an infrastructure destined, in the long term, to extend the zone of influence of the port of Abidjan, to streamline its flow of goods and to strengthen its connection with the markets of the interior of the country and the West African sub-region. The future dry port is thus designed as a natural logistics relay, extending the Abidjan port value chain towards the North.

Thus, between industrial ambition and interconnection challenges, Ferkessédougou is gradually asserting itself as the future logistics gateway to the Ivorian north.