For thousands of years, the number of ships carrying cargo to and fro ports have been a good indicator of the state of health of the society which the ports served. Nigeria’s need for well-equipped ports stems from the sheer size of its population, a large fraction of which conduct business transactions that transcend national borders and seas.
The Lekki Deep Sea Port Project should help take off some of the burden presently being borne by other seaports in Nigeria, including the Apapa port. But this port, which, like Apapa will be located in Lagos, isn’t going to be just another space for ships to dock at and set off from. On completion (slated for 2019), it will be Sub-Saharan Africa’s deepest sea port, and the centre of maritime activity in the West African subregion. Lagos, and indeed Nigeria, will have one more thing to brag about- and derive huge amounts of revenue from.
Situated in the Ibeju-Lekki area of Lagos, the Lekki Deep Sea Port will form part of what is now being called “the new Lagos”. It is expected to aid trade in the area and serve as a means by which the Lekki Free Trade Zone links up with global trade. Its location in this emerging commercial hub, its modern facilities and its space utilizing layout should make it the prime location for maritime activities in the country in the near future.
There doesn’t seem to be much by the way of opposition to the idea of having more ports like the one to be located in Lekki. Demand for containers could increase at the Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of about 12.9 percent up to the year 2025. The capacity shortfall for Lagos ports in 2016 is projected to be about 0.8 million TEUs; it is expected to reach 5.5 million TEUs by 2025. Lagos does not have the capacity to plug this gap- which is why the Lekki port will prove to be so important.
Three major parties are working together on this project: the Tolaram Group, the Nigerian Ports Authority, and the Lagos State Government. The Federal Government approved the project in 2013, thus paving the way for construction work to commence on the port’s site two years later. In the end, the port could add about $200 billion to the government’s coffers by the port, and see up to 163,000 jobs created.
If the Lekki port operates to is full potential as planned, it may strengthen Lagos’s position as the commercial nerve centre of West Africa, and place her on the map as a hub for maritime activity on the African continent.