Nigeria: Olokola Deep-Sea Port to Gulp $1bn

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

29 Dec 2007

The landmark project to develop sub-Saharan Africa's first deep-sea container port in Olokola will gulp about $1billion, according to information made available to THISDAY. The project, for which a 10,000-hectare expanse of land has already been acquired, was originally estimated to cost between $350 million and $400 million.Olokola is approximately 125 kilometres from Escravos, in-between Escravos and Lagos. It is 45 kilometres east of Lekki-Lagos axis and 400 kilometres west of Onne, near Port Harcourt. The project, led by the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), a private sector-led investment bank and development finance institution, is expected to transform the continent's shipping and port capacity upon completion. The AFC, Dangote Group and Western Metal Company (Wempco) had Monday signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in Hong Kong with the Olokola Export Free Trade Zone Company (OKFTZC) and the Ogun and Ondo State governments to develop the port.Under the structure of the MOU, the AFC-led consortium will maintain a 78 per cent shareholding, with Africa Infrastructure Limited, a wholly owned AFC subsidiary, carrying out the role of sole project developer/ manager and AFC as the sole project financial adviser.Ogun and Ondo State governments and the local community will hold 22 per cent shareholding in the project, through an innovative host community investment arrangement. This is designed to sustain the project's local licence to operate, by ensuring that the host community has a vested interest and share from the project's success. "This is a landmark infrastructure project in Africa, and critical to the economic development of the region. The Olokola Deep-sea container port will deliver efficiency for Africa, providing first time access to 50 tonnage ocean container liners. This will improve Africa's capacity to grow its domestic economies and compete internationally," said the AFC President and Chief Executive Officer, Austine O. Ometoruwa. The Ogun State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, noted that the project is "the very first in sub-saharan Africa to drive the economic development of our joint Atlantic coastal states of Ogun and Ondo, and make Olokola Africa's economic gateway to the World."The successful completion of the port will signal the importance of public-private sector partnership in infrastructural development. Established in 2005, the AFC hopes to mobilise and channel required capital towards Africa's economic development. It has as its core pillars: fostering private sector solutions to Africa's development, driving Africa's competitiveness and industrialization, catalysing private sector participation in Africa's infrastructure and facilitating Africa's private sector access to capital markets.Its Board of Directors includes Managing Director of Oceanic Bank, Mrs Cecilia Ibru; Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank, Erastus Akingbola; Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Zenon, Femi Otedola; Managing Director of United Bank for Africa (UBA), Tony Elumelu; Minister of Finance, Shamsudeen Usman; Managing Director of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia, among others.