Lagos State Government has secured a $629 million dollar loan to complete the billion dollar ongoing Lekki Deep Sea Port project.
The city’s Commissioner for Commerce, Industry, and Cooperatives, Dr. Lola Akande, disclosed this on Monday, at the year 2021 ministerial press briefing to commemorate the second year in office of Governor Bababjide Sanwo-Olu, held in Alausa, Ikeja.
Lekki deep sea port is being built over 90 hectares of land at the centre of the Lekki Free Trade Zone, LFTZ, approximately 60 kilometer east of Lagos. It is the first deep sea port to be built in Nigeria on Built Own and Transfer agreement.
Construction of the initial budgeted $1.5 billon deep sea port began in December 2017 and the project is expected to be completed in 2023 after been reviewed.
The multi-purpose Lekki port will have container, liquid and dry bulk terminals to serve container vessels of up to 8,000TEUs (20ft equivalent units), dry bulk vessels, and liquid bulk cargo vessels.
A 9 kliometres-long and 19 metres -deep navigation channel and a 600m-wide turning basin will be built to allow vessels to approach or leave the port. A 1,500m breakwater structure and a 300m secondary breakwater structure will be constructed for safe handling of vessels.
Other facilities at the port will include a 6km-long and 14.5m-deep approach channel, quay wall, cargo handling cranes, and three 19m-deep liquid jetties.
When operational, the Lekki deep sea port is expected to be one of the most modern ports in West Africa and support the growth of commercial operations in the region as well as serve as alternative to Apapa Ports.
According to Akande, the loan secured from China Development Bank, CDB, is to support, facilitate the construction, development of the gigantic project and early operation in year 2022 targeted period.
“Current completion percentage as at February 2021 stood at 47 per cent, trial operations of the port is slated for third quarter of year 2022 while commercial operations is slated for first quarter of year 2023,” she stated.
Akande explained that the project has provided job opportunities to 611 local workforce, which includes: 32 local skilled workforce, 513 local semi-skilled and 66 local un-skillled labour.
