Lekki deep-sea port PPP

Overview:

• A new deep-sea port is being developed in Lekki through a PPP (public-private partnership) as Nigeria seeks to accommodate increasing amounts of container traffic through the Lagos port, which is a key transit route for shipping cargo to and from the country and West Africa.
• The partners on the project are the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Lagos State Government (LASG) and the Tolaram Group, the project sponsor. 
• The Singapore based Tolaram Group, has established project company, Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise (LPLE), to handle the development. 
• LPLE was awarded a 45-year concession by the NPA to develop the port on a BOOT (build-own-operate-transfer) basis.
• A 21 year sub-concession for the operation of the container terminal has been awarded to International Container Terminal Services (ICTSI) as LPLE does not have the requisite experience in port operations.
• The initial phase of the project - constructing the port entrance and the terminal - is excepted to cost around $1.5 billion, and began in March 2015.  
• At present, finance for the project has been confirmed from NPA ($118 million) and six banks - African Development Bank (AfDB), the African Finance Corporation (AFC), European Investment Bank (EIB), Standard Chartered Bank, Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) and Standard Bank.
• The port is expected to be operational by 2018.
• A second new port is being developed in Lagos, in the town of Badgary. 

Ben Naylor - Regional editor