The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on the 24th of January, 2023 commissioned the Lagos Deep Sea Port, which is located at Itoke village, Ibeju-Lekki, in Lagos State.
He also observed the first offloading from CMA CGM Mozart at the quay.
The project which was executed by the Lagos State Government under the leadership of its Executive Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has been hailed as a highly significant project which would open up the state for more economic development.
Below are six facts about the newly commissioned project.
I. The project, an investment in excess of $1.5 billion, is a joint venture between the federal government, through the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Lagos State Government, Tolarams Group (owners of the Lagos Free Zone), and China Harbour Engineering Company.
ii. The terminal can accommodate 18,000TEU container vessels, with the annual throughput of the port at 1.2 million TEU
iii. Lekki Port is the first deep sea port in Nigeria and will be one of the largest in West Africa.
iv. The port’s computerised system will allow container identification and clearance from the office, and human interaction will be minimal in the physical operations
v. The bulk terminal with an available quay length of 300m can accommodate a Panamax class vessel (75,000 DWT).
vi. As reported by Al-Jazeera, the Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria Cui Jianchun, stated that the port is expected to create at least 200,000 jobs.
