TRANSNET, South Africa's state-owned freight and logistics company, plans to invest a further ZAR10 billion (US$1.32 billion) in the development of Ngqura Port over the next decade.

The announcement comes as South African President Jacob Zuma opened the new deep water Port of Ngqura just outside Port Elizabeth in the Eastern Cape earlier this month.

The additional investment in the port would be used to raise the annual container handling capacity from 500,000 TEU at present to two million TEU. According to Port Technology International, this move would help ease the long-term problem of insufficient container handling capacity in Africa.

The report said Transnet has already invested over ZAR10 billion in the development of the facility, which is said to have been in construction for the past 12 years. The port is a green fields project.

It said the extra investment of ZAR10 billion would finance the construction of two more berths at the port's container terminal, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility as well as a bulk and break-bulk berth. Furthermore, the funds would be used to relocate Transnet's manganese export facility to the port from its current location in the Port Elizabeth harbour.

The first two container berths at the Ngqura Container Terminal have been in operation for the last two years.

President Zuma was cited as saying the Ngqura Trade Port would boost South Africa's trade with other countries in the region while supporting the government's long-term economic development plan.

"The planning of the Ngqura has been integrated with that of the Coega Industrial Development Zone, and this will ensure increased benefits for the province and business," said President Zuma. "It has also made it possible for the province to participate in the country's minerals sector."