Tag: nigeria

When Investment in Refinery and Petrochemicals is driven by Innovation and Efficiency

The ongoing investment in refining, petrochemicals, fertilizer, and gas is driven by the desire to bring innovation and efficiency into all aspects of Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, the President/Chief Executive, Aliko Dangote has said.

Dangote, who made this disclosure yesterday at the ongoing Nigeria International Petroleum Summit in Abuja, said the company is committed to the concept of energy efficiency and innovation in the oil and gas sector.

The business mogul, whose 650,000 barrels-per-day capacity refinery is the largest in Africa, was represented by the Group Executive Director, Government and Strategic Relations, Dangote Industries Limited (Dangote.com), Engr. Ahmed Mansur.

Addressing participants at the forum, Mansur said the theme of the conference, “Shaping the Future through Efficiency and Innovation”, was quite apt; given Nigeria’s quest for economic transformation.

According to him, Aliko Dangote is passionate about efficiency and innovation in the oil & gas sector through adding value to the hydrocarbon process.

Mansur said the company’s passion and drive is seen in the building of the project, which will become the world largest single train refinery on completion and therefore a boost to Nigeria’s economy.

He stated: “The Refinery can meet 100% of the domestic requirement of all liquid petroleum products (Gasoline, Diesel, Kerosene and Aviation Jet), leaving the surplus for export.

“This high volume of PMS output from the Dangote Refinery will transform Nigeria from a petrol import-dependent country to an exporter of refined petroleum products. The refinery is designed to accommodate multiple grades of domestic and foreign crude and process these into high-quality gasoline, diesel, kerosene, and aviation fuels that meet Euro V emissions specifications, plus polypropylene”, he said.

Mansur disclosed that Dangote is also constructing the largest fertilizer Plant in West Africa with the capacity to produce 3.0 million tonnes of Urea per year as part of the gigantic economic transformation project. He explained that the Dangote Fertiliser complex consists of Ammonia and Urea plants with associated facilities and infrastructure.

“Nigeria will be able to save $0.5 billion from import substitution and provide $0.4 billion from exports of products from the fertilizer plant. Thus, supply of fertiliser from the plant, which is set for commissioning before the second quarter of 2019, will be enough for the Nigerian market and neighboring countries,” he added.

Speaking further, he said at a time when the oil and gas industry and the global economy is in a state of flux, it is most appropriate that attention should be given to the future especially given the incredible speed and quantum of change taking place in every facet of human endeavour.

“Our economy, in particular, cannot afford to ignore these massive changes. Our decades of dependence on this industry for our economic well-being and the urgent need for diversification has been widely recognized and is clearly the most critical challenge for our policymakers.

“But even as we seek to diversity from oil, and we are, indeed, making observable progress in this regard, we cannot ignore the need to continue to exploit this God-given resources in a more efficient and innovative manner,” he added.

He commended the Management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) for its unwavering support in Dangote’s quest to make Nigeria self-sufficient in the production of petroleum products.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Dangote Group.

Boosting Africa’s tax revenues

Taxes on corporates and individuals have steadily declined in Africa just as national budgets are being stretched. How can Africa boost tax revenues?

In late August, South African telecoms giant MTN, Africa’s biggest mobile operator, was stunned by an $8.1bn demand from Nigeria’s Central Bank, which had accused the firm of illegally sending money abroad. With executives and investors in a state of disbelief and shares plunging to a nine year low, the firm barely had time to respond before the country’s attorney general – an unusual outlet for such orders – demanded a further $2bn in taxes and charges from the company in an unrelated case just days later.

For MTN, the charges represent just the latest challenge it has faced while operating in the volatile Nigerian market following a multi-billion dollar fine levied on the firm in 2015 in a dispute over unregistered simcards. “It’s completely unfounded,” MTN group president and chief executive Rob Shutter told African Business after the moves wiped some $6bn off the company’s share price. He argues that Nigeria’s allegations are incorrect and takes issue with the attorney general’s role in the affair.

Implications for Nigeria

“I think a lot of our investors are more concerned about the implications for Nigeria as an investment destination than the specifics of our two incidents,” says Shutter. “The sooner we can persuade the authorities that we have not made any infraction in either engagement the better for everybody because once that is resolved not only will it clear some of the headwind we are facing but it would also show that the rule of law in Nigeria is still in good shape.”

As the thorny case of MTN in Nigeria shows, taxes and the way in which they are levied have become a highly emotive subject that can make or break a country’s business environment. For every outraged executive smarting at an alleged corporate shakedown, there are politicians and campaigners arguing that companies are taking host countries for a ride by failing to pay their fair share.  They argue that this has a direct impact on African citizens, who suffer from a lack of basic services and vital infrastructure as a result of shrunken government revenues while corporates carry off the profits.

No simple answers

And yet there are no simple answers. For some, high taxes are the backbone of a successful economy, while for others tax breaks and tax holidays are the way forward. Compare Sweden and Singapore. Both have dynamic economies yet vastly different tax regimes and tax revenues as a share of GDP. In Africa, the continent’s budgets are stretched and perforated. Debt levels, in some cases, are ballooning. Organisations like the IMF have recommended domestic resource mobilisation by doubling down on taxes.

Fortunately, the data suggests that tax collection is already improving in Africa. According to the OECD’s Revenue Statistics in Africa 2017 report, the average tax revenue to GDP ratio from data in 16 countries was 19.1% in 2015 – an increase of 0.4% from 2014. Since the turn of the century, every country in the survey increased its ratio, with average growth of 5%.

The bulk of these increases are the result of strengthened indirect taxes. Most sub-Saharan countries introduced VAT to replace a general sales tax. In 2015, taxes on goods and services were the largest contributor to total tax revenues at an average of 57.2%. Direct taxes on corporates and individuals, in contrast, have been steadily declining in sub-Saharan Africa – mirroring a global trend. The average personal income tax collection has decreased from around 44% to 32% since 2000, while corporate income tax collection has dropped by an average of 5%.

Expanding the base

While these are positive steps, problems remain. Individual countries register strong performances – according to Heritage Foundation data, Lesotho’s tax revenue to GDP ratio stands at an impressive 42.9% – but others clearly lag. Nigeria stands as low as 6.1% and many fall below the 15% mark. These deficits are caused less by onerous tax rates – income, corporate and VAT levels largely mirror the rest of the world – but more as a result of narrow tax bases in the context of huge informal markets and limited revenue authority capacity. Expanding this base will be key to plugging budgets and offsetting debt.

The IMF predicts that African countries can mobilise a further 5% of GDP from taxes over the next few years. It identified six countries that have pursued effective resource mobilisation strategies at various stages: Liberia, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda.

“All countries paid special attention to measures to build the tax base, simplify the tax system, and tackle exemptions and incentives,” they argue. “The countries in the study appear to have made limited use of tax policy adjustments. The focus was instead on measures to improve the effectiveness of tax policies and expand the tax base.”

Grappling with giants

Building a healthy tax base fundamentally relies on the ability of a country to successfully tax corporate activity. As the MTN case shows, striking the right balance between encouraging multi­nationals to invest and ensuring they give back to domestic governments has been a tricky undertaking in Africa. Too often the scales are disproportionately tilted towards multinationals.

Many campaigners argue that tax regimes have been extremely lenient to international companies and investors. As part of the continent’s development path, attracting capital through tax exemptions and tax breaks has been a major strategy. Yet as the continent attracts greater numbers of successful companies and gains a reputation for lucrative markets, many have begun questioning the need for such incentives. The IMF argues that unnecessary exemptions are significantly narrowing the tax base.

Recent events in Africa’s mining sector, particularly in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), have brought this issue to light. In the wake of the Second Congo War, president Joseph Kabila enacted favourable mining legislation in order to incentivise private sector participation. Royalties on precious metal were as low as 2% and miners like Glencore, China Molybdenum and Randgold enjoyed a generous regime. Recently, Kabila reworked the legislation to raise general royalties to 3.5%, while royalties on strategic metals including cobalt have been hiked to 10%. Cobalt prices have more than doubled since 2017 owing to the metal’s use in long-life lithium ion batteries. Despite great initial protest, the mining firms now look to have accepted the legislation. In reality they have little choice: DRC is home to over two-thirds of the world’s cobalt.

“In my experience foreign investors tend to believe that they can get away with much more in developing markets as compared to developed markets,” says Kunle Elebute, chairman of KPMG West Africa. “They feel they have a stronger leverage over the country.”

Illicit Flows

Indeed, some shadowy corporates on the continent bypass the tax authorities with impunity. The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) recently estimated that around $50bn is lost annually in Africa due to illicit financial flows. Within this estimate there are many different forms of activity, ranging from flagrantly corrupt criminal behaviour to questionable corporate capital streams. Africa’s tax base has been significantly eroded by both types of activity over the years.

Elebute describes how the biggest outflows are due to corrupt local officials doling out contracts to international firms in exchange for sizeable back-handers. “Local contractors don’t have the capacity to build a big dam – you need foreign contractors,” he says. “And that’s where all the corruption happens: between foreign companies and international firms.” Elebute queries why more isn’t done by the international community to stop such practices.

African regulators particularly face an uphill battle in the fight against corporate profit shifting through transfer pricing. A common strategy is paying taxes on goods and services in a tax haven as opposed to the country where the transactions take place. With large legal teams and a wealth of resources available to multinational companies, African regulators repeatedly find themselves on the back foot. Indeed, the issue is testing even the most advanced economies, and institutions on the continent look ill-equipped to take on large corporates. “For us in developing countries we have no way to prevent those guys from using intermediary companies in tax havens,” comments Elebute. “There’s no amount of legislation we can pass to stop that happening.”

Improving administrative capacity is vital in expanding Africa’s fight against illicit flows and many governments are looking towards technology for solutions. E-tax platforms are making a foothold on the continent as governments seek to use technology to simplify tax payments. Rwanda has introduced mobile tax payments, while electronic tax registers have been used in Kenya since 2005 to instantly record VAT payments and relay the information to the authorities. Centralising payment records and providing tax payers with easy platforms to pay will be key to bringing more corporates and individuals into the system.

The dangers of onerous tax systems

Yet there are counterarguments against a general crackdown on cross border flows, with some firms arguing that it puts legitimate business models at risk. Antoine Maillet-Mezeray, chief financial officer of Nigerian e-commerce firm Jumia, argues that regulators in Africa may jump to the wrong conclusion by targeting corporate capital flows, especially in emerging sectors like e-commerce and technology. Certain Jumia operations, he explains, are centralised in Europe and therefore the company requires some cash flow to and from Europe and its African markets.

“Some governments will always think that we are trying to escape taxes,” he says. “But I think as they are getting more and more familiar with e-commerce this will change.” In many cases, Jumia must spend time and energy explaining to the regulators what they actually do. The company has two business models: one where Jumia buys and resells products online and the other where the company acts as the market intermediary between buyer and seller. Most African governments are unaccustomed to this business model and therefore struggle to regulate the sector.

“Not all the countries have the relevant expertise,” says Maillet-Mezeray. “They are getting up to speed but it takes time and meanwhile it creates some friction.” During this interim period African regulators must take care not to spook nascent sectors or startup companies, but to engage in clear conversation in order to find regulation that works for both parties. Jumia’s troubles and MTN’s battle in Nigeria highlight the importance that African regulators should place on responding fairly to new and lucrative sectors like e-commerce, fintech and telecoms, as well as the use of new tools like blockchain.

If regulators and central bank governors slap heavy taxes and restrictive legislation on firms due to unfamiliarity, or to make a fast buck, any opportunity for Africa to leapfrog in new technologies is cut short. Nigeria, for example, has blocked mobile money due to protest from established banks. Elsewhere unfamiliarity with cryptocurrencies has seen the potentially transformative technology barred from markets. Critics say that this cornering of the market will only serve to stifle wealth creation, arguing that services are best and profits more equally distributed when competition is rigorous.

Innovative tax

Yet there are multiple ways to creatively tax both new and existing firms without resorting to a corporate shakedown. Abebe Aemro Selassie, director of the IMF’s Africa department, points to new methods of raising taxation that African countries ought to consider.

“Urbanisation and real estate development has been a very important feature of many countries in the region. So things like property taxes which have in many cases not been an important source of revenue in the past are now being seriously looked at,” he says. “As the structure of your economy changes, you have to make sure you look at ways of capturing that.”

In Lesotho, property taxation already accounts for half of local government revenue. In Cape Verde the figure is 70%. Yet elsewhere penetration is low and the IMF says that more can be raised through such means.

Meanwhile, VAT and excise duties can be further levied. In 2015, sub-Saharan Africa countries collected on average 1.4% of GDP from all forms of excise taxes, less than half the level in Europe. Wide disparities also exist on a country-to-country basis. Benin, Côte d’Ivoire, Madagascar, Nigeria and Sierra Leone all collect excise revenues of less than 1% of GDP.

The positive case for tax

But perhaps one of the most effective ways of encouraging companies to part with more of their cash is simply showing the benefits that a strong and wealthy state can offer to entrepreneurs. Tax revenues spent in a sustainable, targeted way on improving institutional capacity and building vital infrastructure projects ultimately improve the business environment for firms operating in the country, and thus increase the potential for greater future profits.

Until now, low levels of confidence in governments and institutions across sub-Saharan Africa have led many companies to conclude that money given to the government will be frittered away on vanity projects or siphoned off through corruption. “What are governments doing with taxed money?” asks Elebute.

“In the developed world you see exactly what the taxes are used for: health, roads and education. But what are the taxes used for in Africa?” Taxes, after all, are a social contract between government and citizens and are underscored by the belief that the state will offer some form of return on the capital invested. If more is on offer it may be easier to persuade citizens or companies to part with their money.

Selassie believes that this shaky contract between government and citizens is steadily improving across the continent. “In most low-income countries, not just in Africa, there are always low tax-to-GDP ratios within the early stages of development,” he says. “As the legitimacy of governments strengthen and they are able to show what they are doing with the resources, so too will the willingness of people to pay taxes.”

A fair and stable tax regime, which sees every economic actor contribute equally to the treasury relative to their means, is the ideal that governments and companies should work towards. Private enterprise must be incentivised to grow but wider contributions to the national economy will ultimately have a positive knock on effect on the business environment. While the challenges Africa faces in getting taxes right are many, the continent is making steady progress.

Tax, if used correctly, has the potential to balance Africa’s books and drive economic transformation. If used incorrectly, regulators may do more harm than good. While problems certainly exist, Africa looks to be diligently expanding its tax base and gradually boosting the reach and capacity of its institutions.

Credits to Tom Collins

African Oil and Gas Industry set for Rebound

Africa’s offshore oil and gas industry after seeing tough times in recent years, it is becoming more dynamic again.

With the oil price back at levels last seen in late 2014, and oil company coffers swelling, Africa’s leading hydrocarbons producers are hopeful that they can draw investment back to the continent’s upstream oil and gas sector after some lean years. Both Nigeria and Angola, Africa’s largest oil producers were already finding it tough to launch large offshore oil developments before the oil price nose-dived from over $110 a barrel in mid-2014 to below $30/b in early in the following year.

In August 2018, Nigerian crude production averaged around 1.85m barrels a day (b/d), while Angola’s averaged 1.38m b/d, according to Opec data. Both countries are producing less than past peaks – over 2m b/d for Nigeria and around 1.8m b/d for Angola. Nigeria’s failure to nail down new legislative and financial frameworks for exploration and production agreements, along with the ever-uncertain security situation in the oil-rich Niger Delta, had already prompted some of the majors to scale down operations in the country.

Meanwhile, Angola’s state energy firm Sonangol was finding it hard to stimulate sufficient fresh exploration to replace fast-depleting reserves of existing developments, not least because of the high cost of operating there. Both countries’ oil sectors were also tainted by a lack of transparency and the impact of oil sector-related corruption scandals. In the last few months, both nations have been trying to heal their relationships with foreign investors by pushing ahead with plans for industry restructuring, though it remains to be seen how successful they will be in implementing meaningful change.

Nigeria’s legislative overhaul

In Nigeria, the Petroleum Industry Governance Bill (PIGB), a key piece of legislation affecting future investment – and the first of four related bills – had been passed by both houses of Nigeria’s parliament by early 2018. After a decade of fruitless negotiations, this potential breakthrough offered the prospect of a more clearly defined investment framework for major oil and gas projects. “I don’t think the PIGB was ever the silver bullet that some people thought it was going to be. But there was a body of opinion that said it would at least be a bit better than the current status quo,” says Gail Anderson, Research Director at consultancy Wood Mackenzie.

However, the reform process hit a snag in late August, when news broke that President Muhammadu Buhari decided to withhold his assent for the PIGB, apparently, in part, because it trimmed the amount of oil revenues available for government spending. Ita Enang, a senator and presidential aide, refuted local media reports that the president, who also acts as oil minister, was concerned that the PIGB would reduce his power over the industry by giving more control to independent regulators. Whatever the reason, a further delay – which could be months or even years, given the proximity of next February’s presidential elections – won’t do much for investor confidence in the sector.

There has also been mixed news from the Niger Delta. Militant attacks on oil and gas facilities in the region that have regularly disrupted onshore production and pipeline supply to oil and gas export facilities have eased off over the last year or two. This has enabled export volumes to recover, after Delta disruption caused Nigerian crude production to fall well below 1.3m b/d at some points in 2016. However, a coalition of local militant groups seeking a greater share of the spoils from the oil industry said in September that It would resume attacks if international oil companies did not move their headquarters to the Delta region by the end of 2018 – a demand that is unlikely to be met.

End of an era in Angola

Meanwhile, Angola’s President João Lourenço has announced measures that if implemented would loosen Sonangol’s tight grip over the oil industry there. Under recently unveiled plans, Sonangol, the state-owned company that oversees oil and natural gas production in the country would hand over responsibility for petroleum agreements, oil block sales and their management to an independent National Oil and Gas Agency (ANPG) by the end of 2020.

Lourenço was elected in September 2017, succeeding José Eduardo dos Santos, who stood down as president after 38 years at the top. Since then, his daughter, Isabel dos Santos, has been removed as head of Sonangol and an investigation into possible corruption at Sonangol under her leadership has been launched. She denies any wrongdoing. Both Angola and Nigeria are members of Opec, but their output has been little affected by the cartel’s recent production quotas. In Angola’s case, falling output meant it was producing well below the cap imposed on it. Nigeria was initially excluded from quotas to enable output to recover from the impact of Niger Delta unrest.

Projects advance

Despite the continued uncertainty, the uptick in interest in costly deepwater investments, which look more attractive with today’s higher oil price, has moved some big projects forward in both countries. In Nigeria, Total is considering expanding the scope of its new Egina deepwater project, whose floating production storage and offloading facility (FPSO) is due to start operations in late 2018. The FPSO is set to produce 200,000 b/d of oil from the Egina Main field, whose reserves are estimated at  570m barrels. The French company has said it is now considering connecting its nearby Preowei discovery to the Egina FPSO, after a third appraisal well was successfully drilled there in late 2017.

Prospects also seem brighter for Shell’s delayed expansion of the Bonga deepwater oil field, which had been mired in legal wrangles between Shell and the state-controlled Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) over the terms of the field’s Production Sharing Contract. In early September, Shell Nigeria’s managing director Bayo Ojulari said in a statement that a timetable for a final investment decision would be announced after commercial discussions with the government were concluded. He said those talks could be concluded “soon”. The $10bn Bonga Southwest project could add as much as 175,000 b/d to the field’s output.

In Angola, on the Total-operated Kaombo development on Block 32, the Kaombo Norte FPSO started producing in July, while the Kaombo Sul FPSO is due to start up in 2019. Overall production from the development is expected to peak at some 230,000 b/d. But Angola still needs a lot more exploration than is currently on the cards to make the discoveries it needs to compensate for falling output from now-maturing assets that have been the mainstay of production over the last two decades. Without more investment, production could fall to 1m b/d by 2023, as output from older fields runs down, according to Angola’s Ministry of Mineral Resources and Oil.

Spotlight on gas

Of course, it’s not just about oil anymore. With the era of peak oil fast approaching, many international oil companies (IOCs) are ploughing more money into gas export projects, whose shelf life could be longer. Nigeria remains the kingpin of Africa liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports, but is facing stiff competition not only globally, but also from within the continent, as up to three LNG projects in Mozambique move closer to fruition.

Talk of expanding export capacity from the current 22m tonnes a year (t/y) – all of it from the Nigeria LNG (NLNG) facility on Bonny Island – has been around for years, without progress. But, with the current the global LNG supply glut due to turn into a shortfall in the early 2020s, NLNG’s IOC owners have embarked on efforts to raise finance to build a new production train at the site to add to the existing six. NLNG is owned by Shell (25.6%), Total (15%) and Eni (10.4%), with NNPC holding the other 49%. 

They are seeking some $7bn to cover the cost of building Train 7 and another $5bn for upstream investment in gas supply. The expansion would add 8m t/y to Nigerian export capacity, bringing it to around 30m t/y. That would make the country the world’s third largest exporter, behind Australia and Qatar, based on current production data. Angola also exports LNG from the 5.2m t/y Angola LNG plant, operated by Chevron. The plant, which opened in 2013 has had a chequered history, and had to be shut down for months at a time due to technical problems in the following two years. Its operating record has improved more recently.

The country’s gas production has largely been based on associated gas from oil projects. But the new government has improved terms for gas-focused developments, raising the prospect of possible expansion of Angola LNG, as well as greater supply to the domestic market.    

Ian Lewis

Nigeria Air seeks strategic partner to invest $300m

Nigeria’s government is seeking a strategic partner to invest up to $300 million and operate the new national airline, Nigeria Air, according to a document seen by Reuters on Thursday.

The West African country’s previous national carrier, Nigeria Airways, was founded in 1958 and wholly owned by the government. It ceased to operate in 2003.

Hadi Sirika, minister of state for avi

ation, on Wednesday said the government would not own more than five percent of the new carrier, called Nigeria Air. He made the comments while providing details of the airline at the Farnborough air show in England.

The government plans to launch the airline in December, making good on President Muhammadu Buhari’s election campaign promise.

Investing in infrastructure

Decades of neglect and lack of investment have left Nigeria with low-quality infrastructure seen as a hurdle to prosperity. The government has said that upgrading it will require private investment.

“The initial capital is likely to be in the range of $US 150 to 300 million, invested in tranches over time from start-up through the first years of operation,” a government document stated.

It said the government will provide initial capital but did not state the sum or give further details.

The government will “facilitate the process for opening up the capital of the airline to private sector financial investors”, the document stated.

A private operator, sought through a Public Private Partnership (PPP) process, will manage the airline without interference, it said.

 

Nigeria’s aviation industry

Nigeria Air would serve domestic and international markets and expect to have a fleet of 30 aircraft in five years with hubs in Lagos and Abuja, Nigeria’s two main cities.

British billionaire Richard Branson set up domestic and international carrier Virgin Nigeria in 2000 but pulled out in 2010 in frustration at what he said was interference by politicians and regulators.

The airline he created, which was later rebranded Air Nigeria, closed in 2012 after collapsing under about 35 billion naira of debt which left it unable to pay staff, a former finance director of the company told Reuters at the time.

Nigeria is overhauling its aviation infrastructure and handing over its airports to private managers in order to improve the business environment for the industry sector to attract investment, the document said.

It said current air traffic in Nigeria is around 15 million passengers which is expected to grow at five percent per annum through to 2036.

REUTERS

Nigeria: France-based shipping group signs agreement to operate a container terminal in Lekki, Lagos

Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise (LPLE), the promoters of Lekki Deep Seaport, recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with CMA CGM Group, a France-based world leader in maritime transport, to operate the seaport of the future container terminal in the port. This deal is CMA CGM’s second shipping company in Nigeria and on the African market.

CMA CGM, through its subsidiary CMA Terminals, will be responsible for marketing, operations, and maintenance of the container terminal at Lekki Deep Sea Port. Upon completion, the container terminal will be equipped with a 1,200-meter-long quay as well as 13 quay cranes and will have a capacity of 2.5 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs). With its 16-meter depth, it will allow the Group to deploy ships with a capacity of up to 14,000 TEUs. The port which is expected to start operation at the end of 2020 will have 2 container berths and will be Nigeria’s first deep-sea port.

“We are pleased to sign this Memorandum of Agreement with LPLE to operate Lekki Port’s container terminal,” said Farid Salem, Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group. “As Nigeria’s first deep-sea port, Lekki Port represents a strategic choice for the CMA CGM Group. Thanks to its position and capacity, Lekki Port will allow us to bring to Nigeria larger container ships from Europe and Asia to better serve our customers and pursue our commitment to the development of the entire region. With CMA CGM’s unique service offering and expertise combined with our logistics and inland services, our presence in Lekki Port will benefit the entire Nigerian supply chain and market as well as neighboring countries.”

This port is expected to help reduce congestion in the Lagos port, which is fully in line with the CMA CGM Group’s development in the region. This terminal will also serve as a transshipment hub to Nigeria’s neighboring countries, most especially Benin.

During the official flag off ceremony of the Lekki port project recently the Federal Government of Nigeria pledged its total support for the project. This was made known by the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo who represented President Muhammadu Buhari.

“The signing of the agreement with the CMA CGM Group as another step in the right direction towards the actualization of the Port, which would become the deepest port in Sub-Saharan Africa,” said Navin Nahata, Chief Executive Officer of Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise.

The future Lekki Deep Sea Port will be developed, built and operated by LPLE, a joint venture enterprise led by the Tolaram Group, the Lagos State Government and the Nigerian Ports Authority.

 

Source: The Nerve http://thenerveafrica.com/

 

Agricultural Transformation Agenda Support Program Phase-1(ATASP-1)

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