Three Weeks to AFCON: How Hassan Dakhlallah’s PORTEO Built the Ebimpé Heliport on Deadline
In mid-December 2023, as Côte d’Ivoire prepared to host the Africa Cup of Nations, a new assignment reached the teams working with PORTEO Group. The Alassane Ouattara Stadium in Ebimpé needed a VIP heliport to receive heads of state and other high-level guests arriving for the tournament. The facility was ready on 4 January 2024, ahead of the competition’s opening on 13 January.
The interval between the instruction and completion was short. Delivering the facility required more than construction work on site. It called for the mobilisation of people, equipment and materials, as well as coordination between the teams responsible for getting the work done.
For Hassan Dakhlallah, Founder and Chairman of PORTEO Group, the project offered a practical example of a challenge facing infrastructure businesses across Africa: the ability to turn an assignment into a completed facility within the time available.
The test was not simply whether a company could undertake the work. It was whether it had the resources and operational organisation to respond quickly, coordinate its activities and complete the assignment before the deadline.
Deadlines like that are rare in public works. Most road contracts slip because nothing immovable waits at the end of them: a ministry can extend, a contractor can remobilise, a ribbon-cutting can move. A tournament opening cannot. Ebimpé is worth studying because it removed the usual excuses and left only the question of capacity.
A business built around execution
PORTEO’s development began in Côte d’Ivoire in 2011, a year after the country’s post-election crisis. Dakhlallah acquired the business outright in 2015, and it was renamed PORTEO in 2020.
Its growth has been tied to the construction and infrastructure sector, where project delivery depends on several connected capabilities. A contractor may secure a project, but completing it requires access to machinery, materials, technical personnel, suppliers and the systems needed to coordinate them.
PORTEO’s operations have expanded beyond construction contracts to include industrial activities that support its work. Through Technic Béton, the group produces concrete, while B. Steel is involved in steel production. These businesses form part of an operating structure intended to give the group greater control over materials used in construction.
The group also reports ownership of approximately 3,000 machines. For a company working across several markets, access to its own equipment can support the movement of resources between projects and reduce reliance on external plant providers. It does not remove the logistical demands of construction, but it gives project teams an established equipment base from which to work.
The same applies to the group’s supply network. More than 200 local firms are part of its supply chain, connecting its operations to businesses in the markets where it works. This network matters because infrastructure delivery is rarely the work of one company alone. It depends on suppliers, subcontractors, technical teams and local partners performing their roles within an agreed schedule.
The capacity behind the deadline
The Ebimpé assignment provides a useful entry point into the resources required to deliver infrastructure within tight timelines. A short construction window leaves little room for delays in sourcing materials, arranging equipment or coordinating teams. Preparatory work, procurement and decisions about deployment can determine whether a project stays on schedule.
PORTEO’s reported scale provides some context for the systems it has developed. The group operates in seven African countries, employs more than 12,000 people and reports that it has delivered over 3,000 kilometres of roads and infrastructure.
These figures represent an organisation with operations spread across different markets and project environments. Managing that scale requires coordination between central management, country teams, technical departments and suppliers. It also requires procedures that can be applied consistently across sites.
One indication of the systems in place is the triple certification obtained by PORTEO BTP Côte d’Ivoire in 2026. The certifications cover ISO 9001 for quality management, ISO 14001 for environmental management and ISO 45001 for occupational health and safety. The assessment was conducted between December 2025 and March 2026 by Apave Certification, with the certification operating on a three-year cycle that includes periodic audits.
The standards address different aspects of how work is organised and carried out. Quality management concerns the consistency of processes; environmental management addresses the effects of operations; and occupational health and safety focuses on the conditions under which employees work. Together, they provide a framework for managing construction activities beyond the immediate task of completing a project.
The demands that remain
A short-duration assignment such as the Ebimpé heliport demonstrates the ability to respond to a specific deadline, but it should not be treated as a measure of every aspect of infrastructure delivery. A heliport and a multi-year road project differ in scale, technical requirements, terrain, financing arrangements and the number of stakeholders involved.
PORTEO’s own business profile also shows the demands of its sector. Approximately nine out of every ten euros of the group’s revenue is related to road construction. This concentration means that the company’s performance remains closely tied to the road infrastructure market, where projects can require substantial capital, extensive equipment and sustained coordination over long periods.
The wider record offers further context. PORTEO is involved in the Transgabonaise road project in Gabon, an assignment that illustrates the scale of work undertaken beyond Côte d’Ivoire. The group has also developed its operations around concrete and steel production, while maintaining a substantial equipment base and a network of local suppliers.
The ability to deliver within a short window therefore sits alongside a larger operational requirement: maintaining the resources, standards and relationships needed to execute projects whose timelines extend over months or years.
Why regional delivery matters
For Nigerian readers, the Ebimpé project also raises a question that extends beyond Côte d’Ivoire: how can African infrastructure companies develop the capacity to deliver projects across national borders?
The proposed Abidjan–Lagos Corridor Highway, which is intended to connect Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria, illustrates the scale of regional coordination required. The project is expected to strengthen connections between major economic centres and support the movement of goods and people across West Africa. Its development is closely connected to wider regional trade and the objectives of the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Such projects require more than financing and construction plans. They depend on companies with the equipment, technical personnel, supply networks and management systems to carry out work across different jurisdictions. The ability to coordinate those resources and meet agreed timelines will remain a central measure of delivery capacity.
Dakhlallah’s record has also received formal recognition. He was named African Development Bank Builder of the Year in 2024, while Côte d’Ivoire’s National Excellence Awards recognised him in 2018, 2022 and 2024. PORTEO’s reported 2025 revenue was €737 million, a figure Dakhlallah has cited in describing the group’s scale.
These milestones sit alongside the company’s reported workforce, equipment holdings and completed infrastructure. They provide a broader picture of the organisation that undertook the Ebimpé assignment.
From instruction to completion
The VIP heliport at Ebimpé was a specific project with a clear requirement and a fixed deadline. Its completion between mid-December and 4 January offers a concrete example of the kind of coordination that infrastructure work demands.
For PORTEO, the assignment forms part of a wider record built through construction, industrial operations, equipment investment and work across African markets. For the sector, it points to a practical measure of capacity: not only the ability to secure projects, but also the ability to organise the people and resources required to complete them.
As African countries pursue larger infrastructure programmes and stronger regional connections, the question of who can deliver will remain as relevant as the question of what needs to be built. At Ebimpé, the requirement was a facility ready before the tournament began. Across the continent, the test will continue on projects whose deadlines, scale and public value are considerably greater.