LAGOS – The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has mapped out strategies to increase its Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) from 1.500,000 to 5,000,000 TEUs in the next four years.
Malam Habib Abdullahi, NPA Managing Director, made the plan known in Lagos on Monday while receiving officials of Moody’s Investors Services, New York, a rating agency conducting Nigeria’s 2014 sovereign exercise.
TEU is the standard unit for describing a ship’s cargo carrying capacity, or a shipping terminal’s cargo handling capacity.
Abdullahi said that it was part of the authority’s arrangement to encourage prospective investors, both local and foreign, to the nation’s seaports.
According to him, NPA is collaborating with investors through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) to develop deep seaports in the country.
He said the deep seaports were located in Lekki and Badagry in Lagos State, Ibaka in Akwa Ibom, Olokola in Ondo State and Ogidigben in Delta.
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Abdullahi said that the PPP was a success in Onne Port in Rivers and had been adjudged the best oil and gas port in Africa.
He said ”NPA’s investment in capital dredging of channels has paid off as the Onne Port just received bigger vessel with 4,500 TEUs of containers, first of its kind in Nigeria’s maritime history.”
Mr Olumide Oduntan, NPA Executive Director, Finance and Administration, said that NPA had increased its budgetary allocation for capital projects to improve the development of infrastructure at the ports.
Oduntan said that the authority had also invested in manpower training, technology, infrastructure and processes to achieve its mission and vision.
Earlier, Mr Mauro Leos, leader of the Moody’s Investors Services’ delegation, said that the team was in NPA to find out its plans to become the hub port in Africa.
Leos said that the team’s visit to know the capacity of Nigeria’s ports where it would be in the next five years and its plan for the development of the Nigerian economy. (NAN)
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