Lawmakers Renew Call for Development of Ibom Deep Seaport

The House of Representatives has called on the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), and other relevant bodies to develop concrete plans for the establishment of the Ibom Deep Seaport in Akwa Ibom State in Southern Nigeria.

The resolution followed the adoption of a motion sponsored by Mr. Unyime Idem and nine other lawmakers during plenary.

Presenting the motion, Mr. Idem explained that “the NPA had projected that the Ibom Deep Seaport could attract investments worth over 5.6 billion dollars.”

However, he lamented that progress on the project had been stalled.

Mr. Idem stressed that the completion of the project would boost local economies, generate jobs, drive industrial growth, strengthen the maritime value chain, and enhance the implementation of Export Processing Zone (EPZ) initiatives.

“Regrettably, a 2020 Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) report estimated that the Niger Delta loses about 1.2 billion dollars annually due to port inefficiencies.

“The blue economy currently contributes about 2% to Nigeria’s GDP, and with the President’s strategic proposal to raise this to between 5% and 10%, the realisation of the Ibom Deep Seaport would be a major driver in achieving this goal,” he said in the motion.

“Nigeria’s existing port capacity, estimated at 1.7 trillion TEUs, is overstretched, leading to congestion, shipment delays, and increased costs of doing business, which hampers export competitiveness and limits national economic growth.

“Worried that the revival of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, projected to boost intra-African trade from 18% to 52% by 2030 (according to UNECA), further underscores the need for expanded maritime infrastructure such as the Ibom Deep Seaport,” the motion said.

Mr. Idem also stated that  Nigeria’s vast coastline and Akwa Ibom State’s strategic location on the Atlantic Ocean offer immense potential for export-driven economic expansion through the establishment of the Ibom Deep Seaport.