The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has earmarked the sum of $1 billion for the reconstruction of Tincan Island, Apapa, Rivers, Onne, and Calabar port complexes.
The plan is contained in a document titled ‘Consolidation of Superior Performance at the Nigerian Ports Authority 2023 — A Synopsis of the Authority’s Performance Improvement 2022-2023’.
The NPA also allocated funds for similar reconstruction as part of the new port development plan for the Badagry deep seaport, Snake Island, Burutu, and Ondo deep seaports.
The agency said it has implemented the port community system (PCS) and the national single window to improve their competitiveness.
It noted that despite global economic challenges in 2023, Mohammed Koko, its managing director, succeeded in elevating Nigeria’s primary trade facilitation platform to exceed its exceptional performance in 2022.
The agency said implementing measures to improve performance led to record-breaking revenue generation and remittances to the consolidated revenue fund (CRF) of the federation, with revenues increasing steadily from N361 billion in 2022 to N501 billion by December 2023.
In addition, the port authority said it will turn its strategic goal of becoming the leading maritime logistics hub for sustainable port services in Africa into a reality.
According to the document, the NPA contributed to boosting Nigeria’s trade balance by promoting non-oil exports, particularly in response to the national need to strengthen the naira.
Movement of cargo by barge has greatly enhanced port-hinterland connectivity as evidenced by the meteoric rise in numbers from a total of 80,244 TEUs in 2022, which by 2023 had grown to 118,046 TEUs,” the document reads.
“The NPA during the period under review licensed ten (10) Export Processing Terminals to facilitate exports at Nigerian Sea Ports,” it added
The NPA said it has also increased the number of ship visits due to ongoing dredging of channels, installation of buoys, and enhanced security in the ports’ channels.
This, the agency said, represented a swift action that signifies NPA’s readiness to meet the maritime demands of Nigeria’s landlocked neighbouring countries and regain cargo previously lost to neighbouring maritime nations.
“The quantity of ship visits increased from 1,997 vessels in 2022 to 2,179 vessels by the end of 2023,” the NPA said.
The port authority also said revenue performance was maintained during the review period by diversifying beyond relying solely on earnings from core port operations.
NPA also said public-private partnership (PPP) arrangements have been initiated to generate revenue from various sources, such as ports’ independent power production, bunkering stations, logistics on fallow lands, freshwater provision, ship repairs, and maintenance.
This, according to the agency, aims to safeguard its income against losses and upgrade its revenue invoice management system (RIMs) to the advanced version known as RIMs 2.0.