Ports & Cargo lists obstacles to greenfield seaport development

Disincentives such as unstable government policies and lack of infrastructure must be meaningfully addressed for Nigeria to take advantage of the ongoing Greenfield seaport development, the Ag Managing Director, Ports & Cargo Handling Service, Mr. Mohammed Bulangu has said.

In a lecture titled, “Greenfield Development: Imperatives for Port Development in Africa,” delivered at the African Day of Seas and Oceans, which was hosted by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in Lagos, Bulangu urged the government to be mindful of the multi-dimensional uses of modern ports.
According to Bulangu, who manages the Terminal C of the Tin Can Island Port and subsidiary of the SIFAX Group, the other constraints include lack of safety and security for funds invested by promoters, lack of guarantee for comfort of investors, inadequate measures for continuity, and lack of efficient transport system, which should be urgently addressed.
“Looking at the port development projects Nigeria is embarking upon now - Greenfield ports at Lekki, the proposed port at Badagry and also the Olokola port on the borders of Ogun and Ondo states, one important missing link that can be observed is accessibility,” Bulangu said.
“On the completion of these ports, if some key and fundamental challenges, of which accessibility is chief, are not addressed, serious environmental and economic issues will arise, especially with the Lekki port.”
Therefore, government should prioritise the provision of modern infrastructure, integrated transportation system, including good road network, efficient rail system and revitalised inland waterways for the movement of persons and goods.
Equally important is the urgent need to deploy adequate security within Nigeria’s territorial waters to check the activities of pirates and sea robbers, attractive incentives for investors, including friendly tax policies and streamlined operational procedures for smooth service delivery, he said.
According to him, all these challenges are surmountable if the government could guarantee safety and security of lives and investments put into the development of such Greenfield projects.
And with the continued increase in global sea-borne trade and vessel sizes being deployed to many routes for economies of scale operation, Bulangu stressed the imperative of new ports development with deep draft and large stacking areas for trans-shipment and transit cargo.
New trends in maritime trade have also dictated that new ports development considers a shift from its traditional roles as only import and export destination but also as hubs for connection and trans-shipment to other ports, he disclosed.