Saudi Arabian ports operator Red Sea Gateway Terminal is considering bidding for a 25-year concession to refurbish and operate a terminal at South Africa's Port of Cape Town.

Transnet National Ports Authority is seeking a private operator for the Duncan Dock Precinct, one of two multipurpose terminals at the port. The terminal, currently operated under a lease that expires next year, handles containerised, dry-bulk and break-bulk cargo.

RSGT joined a meeting with prospective bidders in Cape Town on Thursday to assess participation, according to the company's Director of Global Investments, Gagan Seksaria. The operator, Saudi Arabia's first privately funded terminal operator, is partly owned by the kingdom's Public Investment Fund, its sovereign wealth fund.

The concession forms part of Transnet's broader turnaround strategy after the Port of Cape Town was ranked the world's worst-performing container port last year by the World Bank and S&P Global. The state-owned logistics company has since introduced a predictive wind model to reduce weather-related disruptions and a digital cargo-planning platform to improve efficiency.

"Red Sea Gateway Terminal International is a keen investor in the South African ports and related sectors," Seksaria said in a statement regarding the company's interest in the region. The company has also explored bidding for a fresh-produce terminal at the Port of Durban.

Revamping South Africa's freight and logistics network is seen as essential to reviving an economy that has grown by less than 1% annually over the past decade, with inefficient transport infrastructure repeatedly blamed for slowing investment and trade.

Over the past decade, Gulf states have invested more than $100 billion across Africa in sectors including energy, agriculture and logistics. UAE-based DP World is expanding Mozambique's Maputo Port and developing the Democratic Republic of Congo's first deep-water port.

Bids for the Cape Town terminal are due by 20 November.