The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mr. Mohammed Bello-Koko has said that more deep seaports are set to emerge in Nigeria in the next few years.
According to him, in his verified Twitter handle, there are several requests of deep seaports that the agency in conjunction with Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) are currently working on.
However, observers are worried that there will be no cargo to sustain the numerous deep seaport, especially when there are deliberate policies to discourage import and encourage export, especially non-export, which is challenged with a lot of factors from fiscal to monetary policies.
He maintained that the emergence of the deep seaports would be on Public Private Partnership(PPP) basis, saying that there is a positive outlook for the projects.
“Through PPP, additional deep-sea ports will come on board in the next few years. Several requests are being worked on by the Authority and @ICRCng.
Bello-Koko also said that with the emergence of Lekki Deep Seaport which is the deepest in Nigeria, there will be improved traffic flow in the Apapa corridor.
He added that lower freight costs and ultimately lower trading costs will come up
He maintained that NPA will take advantage of the Lekki Deep Seaport to recapture transshipment and transit cargoes that would typically call at neighbouring ports.
“Having the deepest port in Nig will improve traffic flow in the Apapa corridor, lower freight costs & ultimately lower trading costs.
“For us @NigerianPorts, we intend to take advantage of this to recapture transshipment & transit cargoes that would typically call at nearby port
