The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mohammed Bello-Koko, revealed that the agency is capable of repaying the $700 million loan secured for the rehabilitation of the Apapa and Tincan Island Ports in Lagos. Bello-Koko made this disclosure while briefing the press about NPA activities in Lagos on Tuesday, as reported by PUNCH.
He asserted that the authority could generate sufficient revenue to offset the loan, which was funded by UK Export Finance. He noted that the loan was granted at an interest rate of less than seven percent, with a 15-year repayment term and a three-year moratorium.
Bello-Koko remarked that securing funding from international agencies had been challenging, but the NPA managed to obtain over $700 million from the UK for the Tincan and Apapa Ports. The current engineering designs and drafts for the ports are approximately 13.5 meters, and the reconstruction aims to deepen them to 16.5 meters to benefit from economies of scale by accommodating larger vessels.
He further mentioned that the NPA was in the process of negotiating additional funding for the reconstruction of other eastern ports, highlighting that the Rivers Port, which is over 100 years old, is the oldest port in the east.
“We have also moved on to discuss with other funding agencies for the rehabilitation of the eastern ports. The oldest port is in the east, which is over 100 years old. That is the Rivers Port. Discussing with the funding agencies, we finally narrowed it down to a Chinese construction company that will fund and construct,” he explained.
Bello-Koko also pointed out that the Warri, Calabar, and Escravos ports, whose breakwaters collapsed around 10 years ago, require reconstruction. He assured that the rehabilitation of the Tincan and Apapa ports would not occur simultaneously to avoid disrupting activities at the country's busiest ports.
According to Bello-Koko, the Lekki Deep Seaport has been performing beyond expectations. He added that the NPA had improved access to the country's ports, particularly in Lagos, by reducing the number of checkpoints in collaboration with security agencies. He expressed gratitude to the Lagos State Government and security agencies for their assistance in clearing the port corridors.
He noted an increase in the country's exports due to an improved processing system that had reduced bottlenecks. Bello-Koko praised the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, for supporting the NPA in enhancing trade facilitation at the country's ports.
He emphasized that the export processing system demonstrated the effectiveness of innovative thinking, which led to reduced waste and streamlined documentation. The NPA had managed to decrease the export processing time from the export processing zone from 21 days to 48 hours, thereby boosting the country's exports. The Nigerian Export Promotion Council reported that non-oil exports attracted $4.5 billion in 2023.