The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, has said that the Authority is committed to collaborating with investors to improve port efficiency and unlock greater economic value.
Dantsoho, who stated this during the visit of the Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu, to the authority’s headquarters in Lagos, where the BUA revealed its intention to invest about $85 million in the expansion of its BUA Ports and Terminals facility in Port Harcourt as it prepares to handle more than two million tonnes of imported raw materials annually for its growing food business.
However, Dantsoho described the investment as a major boost to trade and the development of Nigeria’s eastern ports, projecting growth in cargo throughput and revenue from the $85 million expansion of its port and terminal facilities in Port Harcourt.
Dantsoho said the investment would increase cargo volumes, generate more revenue for the country and strengthen the competitiveness of Nigerian ports.
He said: “He’s been a major stakeholder for many years. And what he’s doing for us is something that is naturally expected of us to put together, to collaborate with them, the major stakeholders, and even the smallest stakeholders, and especially expanding in the eastern ports.
“You know, we need Nigeria to, in the port system, to be more generic. So now we know that he has invested a lot in Lagos. Now he’s also investing a lot in Port Harcourt.
“So in that way, our volumes will increase, which means that even if we are talking about exporting, we are exporting more. If we are talking about importing, we can import more. And by so doing, now we are going to make more value. That is money from those transactions. And that is what the government is expecting of us.”
Dantsoho also commended President Bola Tinubu for encouraging closer collaboration between the Authority and private sector investors.
“I’m happy that he has mentioned his thanks and appreciation and gratitude to Mr President for allowing us as management and encouraging us to also collaborate with stakeholders like him and others, so that we can make Nigerian Port Authority a greater stakeholder in West Africa and Africa in general,” he said.
On the expected impact of the project, the NPA boss said the investment would deliver significant growth in cargo traffic and earnings.
Earlier, Chairman of BUA Group, Abdul Samad Rabiu, said the company came to appreciate the support it has received and brief the authority on the progress of the project.
According to him, the expansion has advanced significantly and is critical to supporting the rapid growth of BUA Foods in Port Harcourt.
“We’re here to, first of all, thank the MD and his team for the support we’re getting, and also to brief NPA and the management on the progress we’re making as regards the expansion of our BUA Ports and Terminals in Port Harcourt,” Rabiu said.
He added, “We’ve gone very far, and we thought it’s important for us to brief the management and also ask for additional support, and I’m happy that the MD and his team have promised that they’ll continue to give us all the necessary support.”
Rabiu explained that BUA Foods is undergoing a major expansion programme and that efficient port infrastructure is essential to sustaining its operations.
“As you know, BUA Foods is operating in Port Harcourt, and BUA Foods is expanding, and by the time we are done with the expansion, inshallah, next year, we’ll be having almost over two million tonnes of products being imported as raw materials to Port Harcourt, and for that we need a terminal, we need a facility,” he stated.
On the scale of the maritime investment, Rabiu clarified that the port expansion alone is valued at about $85 million.
“The port expansion is about $80 million in total. It’s about $85 million in total, and that is going to give us about 600 metres of seaside,” he said.
The BUA chairman noted that the expanded terminal would strengthen the company’s logistics backbone as it grows across food, cement, mining, infrastructure and other industrial segments.
He stressed that Nigeria’s economic potential can only be fully realised with improved port infrastructure, saying the country still lags behind major economies in that area.
“Nigeria, being the biggest economy, Lagos being the biggest economy, yet we don’t have the infrastructure as far as port infrastructure is concerned,” he said.
Rabiu commended the NPA management for what he described as its competence and dedication, while also thanking President Bola Tinubu for the appointment of the current leadership.
Reflecting on the history of the Port Harcourt terminal, Rabiu revealed that the facility had once faced the threat of losing its acquisition rights, but said the current support from the NPA had enabled the project to move forward successfully.
“I remember that at a point even that terminal acquisition was revoked, but look at us, we are now here, and we’re getting all the support that we need from the management,” he added.
(The Sun)