President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote has disclosed that his company lost N25billion to the poor state of Oshodi-Apapa Expressway.
While speaking during the road inspection in the company of Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, Dangote who has secured the Federal Government’s nod to reconstruct the road for N72.9 billion, stated that the state of road network was responsible for the Apapa ports congestion.
According to him, the congestion, which was caused by the gridlock in the area, made the company recorded the loss between 2017 and 2019, The Nation reported.
“This road will actually open up the economy. It will bring a lot of jobs and a lot of factories that have moved out will be able to move back.
“What I can also assure you is that this road will be finished before the end of next year.”
Meanwhile, as reported by Nairametrics, NASCON Allied Industries Plc, one of the subsidiaries of Dangote Industries Limited, had moved some of its operations away from Apapa to Oregun and Port Harcourt.
While disclosing the development, the company’s Managing Director, Paul Farrer, said the decision to move its operations was in response to the lingering gridlock in Apapa.
Farrer said the Apapa gridlock was one of the key risks to the company’s business last year. He added that the Apapa gridlock affected the movement of raw materials to Oregun, timely delivery of finished goods to customers, and increased turn-around time of the company’s trucks.
The Apapa gridlock controversy: Apapa is a Local Government Area in Lagos, located to the west of Lagos Island. It has a number of ports and terminals operated by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), including the major port of Lagos State and Lagos Port Complex (LPC).
Apapa has ports and terminals for various commodities such as containers and bulk cargo, houses, offices and a small old disused railway station (Apapa North).
It also houses companies such as BUA Group, as well as the commercial offices of many shipping, clearing, and transportation companies.
May od help him in completing his petroleum refinery company