Singapore – Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise (LPLE) and International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the operation of the container terminal of Tolaram Port@Lekki in Nigeria.
ICTSI has been selected as the preferred operator for a sub-concession to equip and operate the container terminal on an exclusive basis for a period of 20 years.
Slated for completion by 2016, the project is the largest of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa and is promoted by the Tolaram Group in partnership with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the Lagos State Government (LASG).
Tolaram Port@Lekki, set within the Lagos Free Trade Zone, is strategically located 65km east of Lagos and will comprise a container terminal, a dry bulk terminal, and a liquid bulk terminal with a total quay length of 1,500 meters.
Given its proximity to Lagos, the facility is well connected to industrial and consumption centers of Nigeria.
The container terminal will have a handling capacity of 2.5 million TEUs with a quay length of 1,200 meters and an initial draft of 14 meters with the potential for further dredging to 16.5 meters upon completion. These will allow larger vessels to make the port into the preferred destination for the West African region.
LPLE will be responsible for design and civil works with a projected investment of more than $1 billion. Subject to execution of a definite sub-concession agreement, ICSTI will provide state-of-the-art equipment and IT infrastructure, and be exclusively responsible for container operation.
“ICTSI is excited at having been nominated the preferred bidder for this prestigious project that will further enhance Nigeria’s position on the regional and global maritime map,” said ICTSI chairman Enrique K. Razon Jr.
“The port project will be our largest investment to date and reflects our confidence in the Nigerian economy. Our belief and studies have shown that this infrastructure investment will result in significant multiplier benefits for the country’s future and catalyze the industrial development of this region. It is, by far, the largest infrastructure investment by a Singaporean company in Nigeria,” said Haresh Aswani who is both Tolaram Group’s managing director in Nigeria and Singapore’s Honorary Consul-General to Nigeria.
“The Lekki container terminal will provide a quality alternative to container handling facilities in the region, dramatically improving Nigeria’s international connectivity and its supply chains,” said Jens O. Floe, ICTSI senior vice president for Africa.
“Our facility in Lekki, given its location within West Africa’s largest market, has strong potential to emerge as the region’s dominant transshipment hub,” Floe added.
Nigeria’s size and profile, strong GDP growth and double-digit trade expansion have made the development of the Nigerian maritime infrastructure one of the key priorities of the NPA and the LASG.
Photo from http://www.ictsi.com/media_relations.aspx?p_id=2&content=1&news_id=1188
