Lekki Deep Sea Port project in Nigera completed

The Lekki Deep Sea Port in Nigeria is complete. China Harbour Engineering Co, the port’s builder made the announcement.

Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial center, has a storage problem. At the West African trade hub’s shipping terminals, projected demand for container space far outstrips capacity. To narrow the gap, the state in June 2020 embarked on the construction of the infrastructure.

Lekki Deep Sea Port

The port is designed to handle the equivalent of 2.7 million 20-foot-long container units a year, increasing the country’s container handling capacity by up to 80%. With a 1.2 kilometer quay, the 90-hectare site becomes the largest port in Nigeria, significantly expanding the country’s ability to process imports and exports.

Currently, Nigeria relies on two old, overcrowded ports whose shallow waters are unable to dock larger vessels, greatly restricting the scale of imports and exports. The container terminal operator, the Lekki Free Port Terminal (a division of the CMA/CGM group), would now be able to take control of the Port in preparation for the resumption of port operations.

Lekki Port is expected to create nearly 170,000 jobs, according to its developers, and generate $360 billion over the next 45 years, per the Ministry of Transportation. The port will support the burgeoning trade across Nigeria and the entire West African region; providing the connection to the global shipping network. The Federal Government and the 36 states are expected to earn about US $361bn as revenue when operation begins.

The port construction is being carried out by two major companies: China Harbour Engineering Company Limited (CHEC), the engineering and construction arm of China Construction and Communication Company (CCCC), and Louis Berger Group, USA.