South Africa’s State-owned Transnet National Ports Authority (TNPA) has released tenders for nearly 100 leasing opportunities across seven of its sea ports in line with a real estate strategy that aims to unlock the economic value of the land within the ports.

At 26 apiece, the Ports of Cape Town and Durban have the most leases on offer, followed by 24 at the Port of Richards Bay, 11 at the Port of Port Elizabeth, six for the Port of Saldanha, four at the Port of Mossel Bay and two for the Port of East London.

The primary lease term ranges between a period of one to 15 years, and included in the request for proposals (RFP) documents are facilities and land that TNPA says could be repurposed for industrial and recreational purposes, along with vacant office buildings.

The leasing opportunities involve 438 719m² of the a total gross lettable area of 26-million square metres.

“While these leasing opportunities allow TNPA to fully optimise the use of land within the ports, they undoubtedly present an untapped opportunity for the business to unlock the future of South Africa’s trade economy whilst opening up the market for new entrants,” acting GM for commercial services Dr Dineo Mazibuko said in a statement.

The RFP documents were issued on March 1, with a submission deadline of April 5.