At Pointe-Noire, Congo Terminal has begun dredging at the East Mole as part of a three-year expansion that will add a 750-meter quay, deepen the terminal to 17 meters and expand the container yard by 28 hectares. The project has a total cost of €361 million, including a €230 million financing package secured in 2025, and is expected to double the terminal’s capacity to more than 2.3 million TEUs annually by 2027. The expansion is designed to accommodate larger vessels and increase the throughput of Congo’s principal maritime gateway.

The scale of the works reflects a broader shift in Congo’s infrastructure needs. The country is seeking to increase oil production from around 250,000 barrels per day toward 500,000 bpd by 2027 while expanding LNG exports and strengthening its position as a gateway to Central African markets. With the country holding approximately 1.8 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and 10 trillion cubic feet of proven gas reserves, infrastructure capacity is becoming increasingly important to converting those resources into sustained economic activity.

Pointe-Noire Becomes a Critical Energy and Trade Gateway

The port’s importance extends beyond container traffic. Djeno, Congo’s principal crude-handling terminal, accounts for approximately 97% of national oil production, which has been carrying out modernization work at the facility. The terminal receives, processes and stores crude before it is exported, while also supplying crude to Congo’s refinery.

At the same time, Congo’s gas industry is expanding. Eni’s Congo LNG project has reached an overall production capacity target of approximately 3 million tons per year, turning the country into an LNG exporter and creating additional demand for supporting maritime and logistics infrastructure.

The result is a port system increasingly central to several parts of Congo’s economy at once: crude exports, LNG development, containerized trade and regional logistics. The Pointe-Noire expansion serves as not just capacity upgrade, but an investment in the infrastructure required to support Congo’s next phase of energy and trade growth.

Djeno’s Governance Shift Adds a Second Layer

The Pointe-Noire project is focused on capacity, while changes at Djeno are changing how the terminal is operated and managed. In 2024, Congo approved an operating agreement for the Djeno terminal involving SNPC, TotalEnergies EP Congo, Eni Congo and Perenco. The agreement formalized a multiparty structure for the terminal, replacing the previous arrangement under which TotalEnergies had operated the facility.

That structure gives the state a direct role through SNPC while retaining the participation of international operators with experience in Congo’s upstream sector. The shift comes as Brazzaville seeks to increase national participation across its energy value chain while continuing to rely on international capital and technical expertise.

The governance change is also being accompanied by physical modernization. At Djeno, a project led by Actemium for TotalEnergies has converted terminal furnaces from crude oil to recovered gas, with the first converted furnace coming online in August 2025. The project is intended to improve energy efficiency, reduce maintenance requirements and optimize operating costs at a facility that handles the overwhelming majority of Congo’s oil production.

These developments point to a broader investment theme: Congo is not only seeking to produce more hydrocarbons, but also to strengthen the infrastructure and operating structures needed to move, process and monetize them. This creates opportunities beyond upstream exploration, spanning port construction, terminal operations, engineering and maintenance, logistics, refining, gas infrastructure and regional distribution.

The Congo Energy & Investment Forum 2027, taking place June 1–3 in Brazzaville, will bring together investors, project developers, policymakers and energy companies to examine these opportunities across Congo’s oil, gas, infrastructure and downstream sectors. As the country advances new projects and upgrades strategic infrastructure, the forum will provide a platform for companies seeking partnerships and investment opportunities across the wider Central African energy market.