APM Terminals and its consortium partners announced today their plans to carve out a huge new shipping port and Free Trade Zone from the Nigerian coastline at Badagry in Nigeria’s Lagos State, 55 km (34 miles) west of Apapa and the Port of Lagos on the Benin-Lagos Expressway.
At full build-out, the deep-water full-service port will be one of the largest in Africa with 7 km of quay and 1,000 hectares (2,470 acres) of dedicated yard, and will include state-of the art facilities for container, bulk, liquid bulk, Ro/Ro and general cargo as well as oil and gas operations support and a barge terminal. Plans for the adjoining Badagry Free Trade Zone will include a power plant, oil refinery, industrial park and warehousing and Inland Container Deport functions.
The first phase of the project is scheduled to open in 2016.
“We are actively working with state and federal governments on the permission process” stated APM Terminals Africa-Middle East Regional CEO Peder Sondergaard, adding that “the Nigerian Ports Authority, Lagos State and the Nigerian federal Government have been supportive and positive”.
Earlier this year, Nigerian Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, cited the proposed Badagry Port project as an example of a public-private partnership development which would help to address congestion and establish Nigeria as a maritime trading hub for West and Central Africa during his keynote address at the 12th Maritime Seminar for Judges in Abuja in June. The Benin-Lagos Expressway is currently being upgraded to a 10-lane highway which will facilitate cargo movements to and from inland destinations in the region.
APM Terminals is currently one of the largest port and terminal operators in Africa, and in West Africa in particular, where APM Terminals Global Terminal Network include nine facilities in eight West African nations, including Apapa Container Terminal, and West
Africa Container Terminal in Onne, Nigeria. APM Terminals Apapa, which assumed operations at Lagos’ Apapa Container Terminal in 2006, is now the busiest container terminal in West Africa, handling 600,000 TEUs in 2011, with throughput for 2012 projected to be 720,000 TEUs. Equally important, shipping lines and African shippers have seen significant improvements to supply chain reliability and cost savings.
Growth Predicted
Industry analysts have predicted that Nigerian container volume, which totaled 1.4 million TEUs in 2011, will outstrip existing port capacity by 2017. At present, approximately 85% of all Nigerian non-oil cargo passes through the Port of Lagos. Over the next three decades, Nigerian annual container traffic is expected to grow to 10 million TEUs.
With 170 million people, Nigeria is the largest country in Africa by population, and the 7th-largest worldwide. By 2050, the UN has forecast that Nigeria’s population will have risen to 289 million, following only India, China, the USA and Pakistan in global population ranking. Lagos is the 2nd-largest city in Africa (after Cairo) with a population of 10.2 million, and is home to an estimated 60% of Nigerian manufacturing. The Nigerian economy, the 2nd-largest in sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa, driven by oil / 5 exports, has been forecast by the International Monetary Fund to expand by 7.1% in 2012 and 6.7% in 2013.
APM Terminals is focusing their strategy on the development of infrastructure in targeted, high-growth markets. Current new terminal and port expansion projects and investments include Lazaro Cardenas, Mexico; Moin, Costa Rica; Callao, Peru; Santos, Brazil; Ningbo, China and Poti, Georgia.
The Badagry consortium partnership is comprised of APM Terminals, Orlean Invest, the Macquarie Group, Oando PLC, the Chagoury Group and Terminal Investment Limited. Support for the project has also been expressed by the Nigerian Ports Authority, and the Governor of Lagos State.
(Bloomberg) — Ukraine’s fight against Russia’s invasion has entered a new phase, pitting homegrown drone technology against a 2,000 kilometer (1,200 mile) swathe of largely Soviet-era oil facilities. At least...
March 19 (Reuters) – Tanker company Euronav will exit Belgium’s blue-chip Bel-20 index after just two days of trading, as it no longer meets the membership conditions after its takeover by Compagnie Maritime...
MOSCOW, March 19 (Reuters) – The new head of Russia’s Navy was formally presented in his new role for the first time on Tuesday at a pomp-filled ceremony, the state RIA news agency reported,...
March 19, 2024
Total Views: 2486
Why Join the gCaptain Club?
Access exclusive insights, engage in vibrant discussions, and gain perspectives from our CEO.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.