Nigeria’s £746m port upgrade agreement with UK, biggest infrastructural development deal in recent years – TMSG

The Tinubu Media Support Group (TMSG) has described the £746 million agreement President Bola Tinubu sealed in the United Kingdom to redevelop two of Nigeria’s busiest seaports as one of the biggest infrastructure development deals in recent years.

In a statement signed by its Chairman Emeka Nwankpa and Secretary Dapo Okubanjo, it argued that the agreement which will make facilities at Apapa and Tin Can Island ports among the best in Africa, aligns with the administration’s quest to modernise the country’s key infrastructure.

It said: “We acknowledge that Nigeria’s major seaports, Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports, have been in dire need of upgrade especially as the facilities are old and are now too small for the sort of cargo traffic passing through them in recent years.

“While the Apapa Port was built in 1913, Tin Can was constructed about 50 years ago, and jointly they handle about 70% of the country’s imports and exports despite their condition.

“So the ports upgrade deal sealed by President Tinubu which, we believe, is the high point of his state visit to the United Kingdom, is the first comprehensive effort in decades to put befitting facilities in place in the two ports.

“For us, it is a reflection of the Tinubu administration’s approach to governance. It has been pro-business from the beginning and not surprisingly, investors have been showing interest as a result of a better investment climate.

“We are also aware that the ports infrastructure development ranks high among the key priorities of the government as part of efforts to build a more resilient economy towards hitting the vision of a one trillion dollar economy by 2030.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the ports upgrade agreement is a government- to- government deal, under which the UK Export Finance (UKEF) will guarantee loans to be coordinated by Citibank. Also, at least 20 per cent of the project components running into £236 million would be provided by British companies.

“As part of the agreement, British Steel, alone, will supply 120,000 tonnes of steel for the port project under a contract valued at £70 million. Nigerian companies are also expected to benefit from the redevelopment of the two ports in line with the deal signed by the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Mr Wale Edun for Nigeria and the UK Minister for Small Business and Economic Transformation, Blair McDougall MP, for the British government.

“We do not doubt that thousands of direct and indirect jobs would be created during the construction. And when the modernisation process is completed, several new roles will need to be filled by qualified Nigerians.

“While we await further details, we are convinced that the port modernisation project will reduce congestion at Nigeria’s major maritime hubs to a large extent, enhance the country’s trade competitiveness, and also reaffirm its position as a leading economic hub in West Africa.

“What the agreement has done is to highlight the depth of bilateral relations between both countries and how it could be leveraged for mutual benefit, and in the case of Nigeria, to drive economic productivity and job creation.”

The group further noted that the ports upgrade deal goes a long way to confirm the fast- growing global investor confidence in Nigeria under the watch of President Tinubu.