ALGERIA is to start construction of a new container port in the first quarter of next year, and plans to develop an international airport dedicated to handling air freight in Tamanrasset in the country's south, with the goal of turning it into a hub for sub-Saharan Africa, according to Transport Minister Boudjemaa Talai.

The airport, which already handles civil and military air traffic, is equipped with two runways ranging from 3,100 to 3,600 metres in length. The minister provided few details about the project but said a study paper would be published in January 2017, reported Lloyd's Loading List.

As for the new sea port, the plan calls for the creation of a new container port with a capacity of 6.5 million TEU to be located in El Hamdania, near the city of Cherchell, 80 kilometres west of the Algerian capital. Work on the port, which will attract investment of US$3.3 billion, will commence in the first quarter of 2017.

Construction is scheduled to take four years to complete and will be carried out by China State Construction Corporation (CSCEC) and China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), which will also manage the new maritime gateway via an Algerian-registered company in which it will have a 49 per cent stake.

According to economic analysts, Oxford Business Group, the new box port could become a hub for Chinese-origin maritime traffic in the western Mediterranean.