The Lekki Deep Seaport, in Lagos state south-west Nigeria will begin full commercial activities by September 2022.
The Minister of transportation Mr Rotimi Amaechi stated this after inspecting the ongoing project at the port.
Mr Amaechi said the Lekki Deep Port will contribute $360 billion to the GDP of the nation in 45 years.
On the need for expansion of the project, the minister said “the need for extension will be understated if we ignore it. Now that there are 5,000 persons we need to have the discussion with the community, we need to have a conversion with the Lagos state government and make provisions for their reorientation.”
The development of Lekki Deep Seaport is expected to help decongest the Apapa Port, which is currently struggling with limited space and poor infrastructure to evacuate laden containers.
Mr Amaechi said “you won’t see that market you see in Apapa and tinka here, everything is automated from the gate till you get here. You will see something close to what you have in Dubai and what you have in Singapore.”
The Port, which is being constructed on 90 hectares of land based on Build, Own, Operate and Transfer arrangement, would comprise of three containers, three liquids, and one dry bulk berths.
It is also expected to have 16.5 meters draught, which is the deepest in Nigeria, and to have a projected capacity of 2 .7 million, twenty-foot equivalent units of containers per annum.
