The federal government has said that the Lekki Deep Seaport is designed to be the deepest port in West Africa and will be a significant game-changer in Nigeria’s Maritime economy with corresponding benefits to the West and Central sub-regions of Africa.
According to a statement by the Assistant Director Press and Public Relations of the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Abuja, Anastasia Ogbonna, this was disclosed by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr Magdalene Ajani.
Ajani made this known when she led a Ministerial Team on a quarterly inspection of the progress of work on the Lekki Deep Sea Port in Lagos.
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The activities that were undertaken in the course of the inspection include an audio-visual briefing by the management of Lekki Port Enterprises, the contractors (China Harbour Engineering Co. Ltd) and the Project Managers (Louis Berger Intl.) as well as a physical inspection of the works on site.
Ajani said the developers were working assiduously to meet the deadline of the fourth quarter of 2022 for commencement of commercial operations as directed by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.
Also on the inspection team are the Director, Maritime Services, Awal Suleiman, Director, Legal Services, Pius Oteh, Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Hassan Bello.
Others include the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority, Hadiza Bala Usman, Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Bashir Jamoh and other technical officers from the ministry and the agencies.
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What you should know
- The Lekki Deep Seaport which is being constructed by China Habour Engineering firm is a $2 billion investment in the Lagos Free Trade zone initiated by Tolaram Group, a Singaporean company.
- The first phase of the seaport project, which is being financed by a $629 million facility from China Development Bank (CDB), is at 48% completion.
- The size of the deep seaport will allow 18,000 TEU capacity vessels, which are four times bigger than the ones berthing at Apapa seaports, thereby scaling down the cost of container transportation from any part of the world.
- When completed, the deep seaport is expected to generate more than 170,000 direct and indirect job opportunities for Lagos residents and would boost the Federal Government’s efforts to decongest the Lagos ports in Apapa and Tin Can.
