AD Ports Group is expanding its regional port footprint, signing a 30-year concession with Aqaba Development Corporation to manage and operate Jordan’s Aqaba multipurpose port.

Under the deal, AD Ports will take a 70% stake in a new joint venture, with Aqaba Development Corporation holding the remaining 30%. The Abu Dhabi-listed group has committed AED 141m ($38.4m) to the project and expects to take over operations in August.

The terminal is Jordan’s only dedicated general cargo and multipurpose port, handling everything from grains and livestock to roro traffic and project cargo, moving around 80% of exports and roughly two-thirds of imports, while also serving as a transit hub for cargo bound for Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

Aqaba multipurpose port has an annual capacity of about 11m tonnes, with nine berths, a total quay length of around 2 km and a draft of 13.5 m. In 2025, the terminal handled more than 5.3m tonnes of cargo and close to 85,000 car equivalent units of roro imports.

For AD Ports, the agreement marks its largest infrastructure investment in Jordan to date and deepens a relationship that has been building since 2021. The group is already involved in Aqaba through the cruise terminal and the Maqta Ayla joint venture, which is developing a digital port community system aimed at speeding up cargo clearance and trade flows.

The Aqaba concession also ties into a wider push by AD Ports to build an integrated logistics and trade platform across the Middle East, Africa and Central Asia. Earlier projects in Jordan include a contract to manage the Al Madouneh Customs Centre in Amman and the launch of the Marsa Zayed waterfront development through a separate real estate-led initiative.

With Aqaba added to the network, AD Ports now operates or manages 35 ports and terminals worldwide, spanning the UAE, Jordan, Spain, Egypt, Syria, Pakistan, Kazakhstan, Tanzania, Angola and the Republic of the Congo.