The owners of APM Terminals yesterday expressed their readiness to invest half a billion dollars in Apapa Port, Lagos, to make it one of the biggest in Africa.
Its Global Chief Executive Officer, Mr Keith Svendsen, stated this when he visited Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola in Abuja.
The minister reinstated the government’s commitment to modernise ports in the country to reverse the current trend that makes other ports in Africa more attractive than Nigerian ports.
The APM group also met with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
At the meeting were Oyetola, Ministers of Trade and Investment Minister, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite and Transport, Seidu Alkali.
During the meeting, Oyetola highlighted some of the modernisation plans of the government with regard to the ports.
Svendsen, who was accompanied by CEO of APM Terminals Nigeria, Fredrick Klinke, and a member of board, Koye Edu, noted that in the last one year, the Onne ports had been doing better than the Durban ports (South Africa), adding that at the moment, the turnaround time in Onne had been reduced by 65 per cent.
Oyetola, who was accompanied by the Permanent Secretary, Mr. Olorunola Olufemi, and the Managing Director, of National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Alhaji Bola Oyebamiji, assured the group of the support of his ministry.
He said: “We have resolved to modernise the ports, we are only looking at funding strategies. We have resolved to increase the drought level of the Apapa and Tincan ports from the current 13.5 to 16.5 per cent to allow bigger vessels to berth so that we can reverse the current trend that is making other ports more attractive than ours”.
“We are excited about this potential investment. We will be glad to have the specifics soonest so we can know the areas you want to invest in, and we can make progress. I can assure you, you have a partner in us”.
