Guinea Bissau launched last week an international tender seeking a private partner to manage the Port of Bissau, the sole commercial port in the African nation, Guinea Bissau News Agency reported.

João Bernardo Vieira, Secretary of State for Transport and Communications, said the port was currently operated by the state-owned Administration of the Port of Guinea-Bissau (APGB). But the entity lacked capital to carry out dredging works and the upgrading of facilities at the port, he explained.

Having an international partner in the management of the port could help upgrade the facilities and turn it into “a modernised and competitive” regional facility, the Secretary of State noted.

The decision to launch the tender was made in July 2 at a meeting of the Council of Ministers. The deadline for the submission of bids is August 10, the news agency reported.

Mr Vieira added that international financial institutions, including the World Bank, had for more than a decade urged the Guinea Bissau Government to look for a private entity to manage the port.

The World Bank estimated in 2011 that 90 percent of goods transported to and from Guinea Bissau moved via the port, due to the lack of a cross-border railway system in the region.