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The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) recently announced the ambitious plan to rehabilitate Nigerian ports with a whopping $1.1billion. The project will modernize our ports and enhance their operational competitiveness in West Africa and beyond. The Managing Director of NPA, Mohammed Bello Koko, disclosed this recently during the 43rd conference of Port Management Association of West and Central Africa held in Lagos. The plan, he explained, is part of a 25- year Port master plan that will serve as a national working document uniting all stakeholders towards marine logistics development. The rehabilitation is starting with the Tincan Island, which was built in 1976, and commissioned in 1977. The Tincan Island Port is the second largest port in the country after Apapa Port, all located in Lagos.
Earlier, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gbeyoga Oyetola, had expressed the urgent need to revamp the delapidated ports infrastructure across the country. He said it would cost over $1billion to make this happen. He spoke during the 29th Nigerian Economic Summit organised by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning in Abuja. He expressed concern that failure to timely fix the ports might lead to their collapse. Private partnership, he noted, is required to fastrack the plan. The rehabilitation of the ports will them accommodate bigger vessels create, create more jobs and increase their revenues.
For the Tincan Island Port, one of the objectives of the plan is to achieve a draft depth of about 14 metres. Currently the Tincan Island Port covers 79 hectares of land, and provides bunkering and ship repair services for vessels with a maximum weight of 35,000 DWT. It also has the capacity to handle diversified cargoes, with each terminal operator specialising in different forms of cargo, both dry and wet bulk cargoes. It also has five private terminals and eight Inland jetties. The managers of our ports should know that investment in port infrastructure and rehabilitation will provide huge opportunities to link hinterlands with rails, waterways, all of which will boost the economy.
This is why all the key ports across the country must receive a facelift and new ones come on stream so that the cost of doing business will be reduced significantly. The Lekki Deep Sea Port located in Lagos Free Zone, though semi -operational, is a multi-purpose port and the largest sea port in West Africa when fully operational. It is jointly owned by the Chinese Harbour Engineering Company, Tolaran Group, with the balance shared between the Lagos State government and the Nigerian Ports Authority. The port could be a game changer in the marine and transport sector. The Apapa Port, currently the largest and busiest port in the sub-region, is among the ports slated for revamp. It is a major container terminal, which was originally owned and operated by the federal government until 2005, and now operated by a Danish firm, A.P. Moller-Maesk Group.
Besides, the Badagry Deep Sea Port, which recently signed an agreement with a Middle East company, is scheduled to commence operation early next year. The rehabilitation will create a seamless marine transportation system across the country and beyond. The Eastern ports of Onne in Rivers State and the Calabar Port should equally receive priority attention. The Onne and Calabar ports should be revamped to serve as veritable alternatives to Lagos ports. Nigeria requires a working port system. This is crucial at this time because, at the moment, the inefficiency associated with road-dependent cargo evacuation to their destinations has raised the cost of goods and services. As a result, an effective alternative has become imperative. This includes the implementation of barges and expansion of rail and road infrastructure. In addition, let the government construct more new ports. Doing so will ease the congestion at the major ports in Lagos. Having modernised ports will help Nigeria reap enormously from the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
Nigeria needs the automation of its ports to facilitate trade competitiveness. Digitalization of port operations will optimise the flow of goods. It will create job opportunities and enable sustained peace across the country. It bears repeating that private sector empowerment is needed to unlock the huge potential in the ports sector of the economy. Nigeria cannot afford to be left behind. A country like Gabon in Central Africa has put in place measures that will facilitate free trade. In all, the plan by the NPA should begin immediately. The benefits are enormous. Effective port infrastructure will make Nigerian ports a hub in the West Africa.
