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By Steve Agbota
The Sea Empowerment and Research Centre (SEREC) has urged the government to expedite the commercial deployment of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency’s (NIMASA) N50 billion modular floating dock to maximise its economic benefits.
The Centre stressed the need to translate the public investment into productive maritime capacity, job creation, foreign exchange savings and increased government revenue.
SEREC also called for a transparent, performance-based review of Nigeria’s port terminal concessions ahead of renewal decisions, warning that neither automatic renewal nor non-renewal should be assumed to guarantee financial gains for the Federal Government.
In a position paper, SEREC Co-Founder and Head of Research, Eugene Nweke, said the debate over the renewal of the 2006 port concession agreements required a more detailed assessment of contractual obligations, terminal performance and the long-term economic value to Nigeria.
Nweke acknowledged that the concession programme transformed the country’s port operating model from direct public-sector management to a landlord-port system, bringing private capital, equipment, management expertise and operational improvements.
He noted that official records had recognised improvements in vessel turnaround time, cargo dwell time and terminal operating hours following the concession programme.
However, he argued that the gains recorded under the arrangement did not automatically entitle existing operators to perpetual renewal.
“The decisions on renewal should be based on measurable performance indicators, including concession and lease payments, cargo throughput, capital investment, equipment renewal, maintenance, safety, service quality, development plans and compliance with contractual obligations.
“The appropriate policy question was whether renewing an existing concession, restructuring it or conducting a competitive re-tender would deliver the greatest long-term economic value to Nigeria while protecting the legitimate contractual interests of both parties,” he said. Nweke cautioned against describing non-renewal as an automatic financial loss to the government, just as renewal should not automatically be regarded as a financial gain.
“The financial implications of non-renewal could include changes in immediate government revenue, transition costs associated with selecting new operators and potential economic losses arising from delayed investments or operational disruptions,” he explained.
Conversely, he said competitive re-tendering could attract operators willing to commit more capital and undertake greater infrastructure upgrades. He therefore recommended a comparison of the net present value of retaining existing concessionaires against the potential returns from renewal, restructuring or competitive re-tendering, based on individual terminals’ financial and performance records.
He also acknowledged the investments made by private terminal operators, citing an Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) assessment that estimated terminal operators’ post-2006 investments at about N200 billion over 10 years, compared with approximately N50 billion envisaged under the original investment programme.
However, he maintained that private investment did not confer permanent ownership of public port assets, stressing that time-bound concessions must remain subject to contractual obligations and the rights of the landlord.
On the NIMASA modular floating dock, Nweke described the facility as an example of public capital whose economic benefits had been delayed by the failure to fully integrate the asset into an operational commercial framework.
He said the facility cost approximately N50 billion and arrived in Nigeria in 2018, while the ICRC subsequently certified its Outline Business Case for operation under a public-private partnership arrangement.
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The project was expected to generate employment, conserve foreign exchange, develop indigenous technical capacity, provide training opportunities and generate revenue for the government.
Nweke said the central challenge was no longer whether the floating dock had economic potential, but how quickly Nigeria could translate that potential into measurable returns.
He identified foreign-exchange conservation as one of the major benefits that could arise from a functioning ship-repair facility, noting that vessel repairs, dry-docking and other specialist maritime services undertaken abroad represented potential foreign-exchange outflows that could be reduced if the services were competitively provided locally.
He referenced an earlier industry estimate of approximately $100 million in annual potential capital-flight savings, but stressed that the figure should be treated as a historical estimate rather than a verified current annual saving.
According to him, an operational floating dock could also create direct and indirect employment in marine engineering, welding, electrical work, naval architecture, ship repair, inspection, logistics, fabrication and other maritime services.
“The facility could provide practical training opportunities for students and trainees from the Maritime Academy of Nigeria and the Nigerian Maritime University, helping bridge the gap between maritime education and industrial experience,” he said.
Nweke identified the broader policy challenge as the failure to coordinate public assets with suitable locations, infrastructure, operators, market demand, financing, regulation and accountability.
He noted that although the ICRC had certified the floating dock’s business case and NIMASA had taken steps towards establishing an operational base, the government needed to focus on actual utilisation rather than acquisition or commissioning alone.
He said the real KPI is utilisation, arguing that the dock’s performance should be measured by its commercial activity and economic contribution.
For the port concessions, SEREC recommended transparent, terminal-by-terminal performance audits, publication of applicable key performance indicators and aggregate results, and reconciliation of concession fees, throughput obligations, capital expenditure and contractual compliance.
It also called for stronger investment, technology, service-quality and infrastructure-rehabilitation obligations in renewed concessions, alongside properly managed transitions where competitive re-tendering becomes necessary.
For the floating dock, the centre urged the government to establish a publicly accountable commercial deployment programme with a defined operator, certified technical capacity, published utilisation targets, annual revenue and expenditure reporting, a vessel-targeting strategy and integration with Nigerian shipowners and offshore operators.
It also recommended training and apprenticeship quotas, indigenous supplier participation and a clear timetable for moving the facility from deployment to full commercial operations.
Nweke said Nigeria should move beyond the simplistic debate over whether to renew or cancel existing concessions and focus instead on whether its ports and maritime assets were delivering maximum public economic value.
He said the next generation of port concessions should deliver more investment, efficient terminals, better infrastructure, competitive tariffs, higher cargo throughput, improved technology deployment and stronger domestic maritime industrial capacity.
“Public maritime assets must produce public economic value; private concessions must earn continuation through demonstrable performance; and renewal must be determined by transparent contractual, economic and operational evidence not by the weight of vested interests,” he said.
