Lekki Deep Sea Port Will Create 169,972 Jobs, Generate $201bn In Revenue – FG

The Federal Government has foretold that the Lekki Deep sea port project when completed would be a big game changer on the nation’s economy.

The Nigerian government further boasts that the project will create at least 169,972 job opportunities favorable to citizens.

The Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made the disclosure after a tour of the Lekki Deep Sea Port within the week, Naija News understands.

After completion according to the minister, the project would make Nigeria regain the maritime business that it lost to ports in Togo, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana.

Mohammed mentioned further that the project would also be a big boost for Nigeria in its quest to take advantage of the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).

The minister estimated that over $201 billion in taxes, royalties and duties would be generated for the Nigerian government when the port commences operations in the fourth quarter of 2022.

Mohammed was optimistic that the Lekki port would put the country on a higher height as it will soon become a central hub for the West African region.

He said the aggregate impact of the Lekki Deep Sea Port put at $361 billion in 45 years would be over 200 times the cost of building the port.

The investment is huge – $1.53 billion on fixed assets and $800 million dollars on construction. In addition, it will create 169,972 jobs and bring revenues totalling $201 billion to state and federal governments through taxes, royalties and duties.

“The direct and induced business revenue impact is estimated at $158 billion in addition to a qualitative impact on manufacturing, trade and commercial services sector,” he added.

Speaking further, the minister said: “The Lekki Deep Sea Port, a build, own, operate and transfer concern, is a massive project, a game changer and a pace setter. It is the deepest sea port in Nigeria and West Africa, and that in itself is a unique advantage.

“A major advantage we have to leverage is transshipment. With this port, Nigeria will become a transshipment hub and the revenue we are currently losing to our neighboring countries will come here and that is big,” he said.

Naija News understands that the project is carried out in phases and the first phase is said to have already reached 89 per cent and will be completed in September this year.

The facilities here are first class. We have seven ships to shore cranes and 21 RTG cranes,” said the minister.

No port in Nigeria currently has this. The excellent equipment is why this port can do 18,000 twenty-foot equivalent unit (teu), which is more than four times the number that can currently be handled by our other ports,” he averred.

In his remark during the tour, the Managing Director, Lekki Deep Sea Port, Du Ruogang, said the port would change the economic landscape of Nigeria and West Africa at large.

Also, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council, (NSC), Emmanuel Jime, described the port as a game changer for the Nigerian economy, but stressed the need for critical infrastructure to be developed to ease evacuation of cargoes out of the port.

He said: “We need to map out modalities on how we can evacuate cargoes out of the port so that we do not have a replica of Apapa and Tin Can ports.

“This visit is the second we are making to this area within a month, coming after our trip to the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals as well as the Dangote Fertilizer on April 3rd 2022,” he added.

This article was originally published on Nigeria News

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