By Emmanuel Nduka
The Nigerian Government has secured an investment of $600 million from Danish shipping and logistics company A.P. Moller-Maersk to expand existing port infrastructure to accommodate more container shipping services across Nigerian ports.
This was disclosed on Sunday by Robert Maersk Uggla, Chairman of A.P. Moller-Maersk during a meeting with Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Heritage Times HT reports that President Tinubu noted that this investment will complement the administration’s ongoing $1 billion investment in seaport reconstruction across the eastern and western seaports of Nigeria.
He said it would further support the country’s port modernisation efforts and port process automation through his administration’s implementation of the national Single Window project, which is aimed at enhancing trade facilitation, easing import-export flow, and reducing corruption at the ports, while improving the efficiency and transparency of port processes in Nigeria.
“We appreciate your business and the contribution you have made and continue to make to our country’s economy over time. We do not take our partners for granted. A bet on Nigeria is a winning bet. It is also a bet that rewards beyond what is obtainable elsewhere.
“More investment opportunities are available, and my government has worked on various reforms to encourage investments. We need to encourage more opportunities for revenue expansion and minimise trans-shipments from larger ships to smaller ships,” Tinubu said.
Highlighting Maersk’s longstanding engagement in Africa’s most populous nation and his belief in the future of Nigeria, A.P. Moller-Maersk’s chairman said his company had made significant investments of over $2 billion in Nigerian ports and other activities.
He emphasised the potential for Nigerian ports to accommodate larger container ships and stressed the need for expanding port infrastructure to meet this demand while reducing the cost of logistics.
”We have seen a significant opportunity for Nigeria to cater for larger container ships. Historically, most of the West African coasts are already served by smaller ships. Currently, we see an opportunity to deploy larger ships to Nigeria. To achieve this, we need to expand the port infrastructure, especially in Lagos, where we need a bigger hub for logistics services. The growth potential is hard to quantify.
”We believe in Nigeria, and we will invest $600 million in existing facilities and make the ports accommodating for bigger ships.
”In my humble view, given that Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa, Nigeria should have the best and biggest port and we are very eager to invest. We will continue that dialogue with the relevant Nigerian authorities to explore further investment opportunities,” the Maersk chairman added.
