The Bakassi Deep Seaport project received a further boost on Friday, with the submission of the Outline Business Case (OBC) by the Federal Government-appointed transaction adviser, Feedback Infrastructure Limited, to the Cross River State Governor, Prof. Ben Ayade.
Making the presentation to governor Ayade, at the executive council chamber, Government House, Calabar, Managing Director of Feedback Infrastructure Limited, Nnachi Onuoha, said the exercise of producing the OBC was quite demanding, just as he added that the outcome was thorough.
Onuoha said: “Nigeria is a country with about 200 million people and still counting. We only have one trade port in Nigeria, which is the Apapa port? So, the Bakassi Deep Seaport will be the second trade port in the country because every other ports are oil terminals.
“If you recall, when we had the first meeting here, we were talking about a 12-metre port, then, to 15-metre port in terms of draft, but, after the necessary studies, including geophysical and technical studies, we realised we had no option than to achieve a transnational shipment by doing a 20-metre port. And this seaport will be the deepest seaport in Africa upon completion.”
He said working on the outline business case “was demanding, but, we did a very detailed and thorough work that can be compared with any other OBC globally. Available records show that average time for an OBC was for five years, but we are proud to say within 18 months, Bakassi Deep Seaport OBC is ready. Today, we have something we can take to the market and investors will be falling on us.”