Construction completed on Nigeria’s $1.5 billion Lekki Deep Sea Port project in Lagos, Nigeria, August 30, 2016. REUTERS/Ikpeel Echeburua
By I.A. Ayobami
LAGOS, Nigeria (Reuters) – Nigeria’s $1.5 billion Lekki Deep Sea Port project started construction on Monday with the support of African and Asian countries including Britain and China, a senior Lekki official said.
The $2.2 billion project is expected to be operational by December 2018, with a target of generating 20,000 jobs and generating $20 billion in revenue for the country, Lekki General Manager, Chief Executive Officer and General Manager of Lekki Port Authority (Lekki PORT) Mohammed Yahaya said in an interview on Monday.
Nigerians will be able to handle a cargo containing 200,000 cubic meters of CO2 and 1 million tons of cargo will be handled.
“The Lekki project is in line with the country’s development strategy aimed at being an influential global hub of commerce and logistics and this will be a catalyst in achieving the country’s vision of being a developed nation by 2035,” he told Reuters during an exclusive interview.
A senior official from the project said “we have been able to attract investors from more than 50 countries. Lekki is expected to generate an estimated revenue of $20 billion for the country.”
Last year, the Lekki consortium began building an underwater $2 billion seaport and Lekki PORT received a $3 billion loan from the International Finance Corp (IFC) to finance the project.
The project is expected to have a direct impact on Nigeria’s gas and oil sector, which has a large potential in the country’s offshore gas resources.
A second phase of the project would involve constructing an additional 60 km (37 miles) of oil and gas pipeline.
Lekki PORT and its partners have embarked on a program of