By Dickson Pat
Chairman, Mercury Maritime Concession Company ,MMCC, Rear Adm. Andrew Okoja ,retd, said the Delta Government had revalidated the approval of Escravos $27.2 billion Seaport project, while waiting for Federal Government’s validation.
Okoja, the Developer and Lead Promoter of the Escravos Port project made this known at a news conference in Lagos on Wednesday.
He said that the Delta Government had granted the approval of the revalidation of the project to the developer of the proposed $27.29 billion Escravos Industrial Complex ,ESIC, project in Delta.
He said the developer had received assurance from the Federal Government that the revalidation of the earlier granted provisional approval would soon be granted.
“We have received a revalidation from Delta State Government, which was communicated to us early this week.
“We are also in touch with the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, the supervisory ministry for this project and they have assured us that the revalidation of the Federal Government would be granted before the expiration of the June deadline that the project financier gave us.
“The project will run across eight ministries including the Ministry of Solid Minerals, the Ministry of Works, the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy and the Ministry of Power”, Okoja said.
According to him, the port developer and its partners are bringing a development fund of $27.2 billion to support the present administration in its drive to attract foreign direct investments, develop the economy and create jobs.
He called on stakeholders as well as state governments at different levels to join hands to build Nigerian economy by creating an enabling environment for the port project to thrive for the growth of the nation’s economy.
Okoja said the developer had also secured both financial and developmental partners.
“The EDIB International of Hong Kong had expressed willingness to invest in the project as the financial partner for the port project that will be located on 31,000 hectares of land in Escravos ,Gbaramatu Island/Omadino, Warri South-West Local Government Area of Delta State.
“The port project will open up Delta State and seven other states including FCT Abuja to international investors in the area of trade, commerce and industry.
“The project also involves building seven inland dry ports in Bayelsa, Imo, Delta, Edo, Kogi and Abuja and that all the deliverables would be achieved within five years of commencing construction”, he said.
The Port Project Director of MMCC, Mr Ausbet Udebu, said the project involved one deep seaport, inland ports in seven states, such as Bayelsa (Nun river), Imo (Oguta lake), Delta (Okegbele), Edo (Inyele), Delta (Ebu), Kogi (Idah) and FCT Abuja.
Udebu said the project involved building an intermodal transport system for cargo evacuation including 45km coastal roads, 150km rail line that would connect existing Warri-Ajaokuta-Itakpe railway and 600km of marine network.
He said there would be an independent power infrastructure that involved 2,000 megawatts of Independent Power Project ,IPP, two 500 megawatts of IPP in two inland ports and five 250 megawatts of IPP in five inland ports.
Udebu said that there would be a Free Trade Zone, an industrial park and a Central Business District.
He explained that Anambra and Niger would have equity ownership in the ESIC project.
He said the project would be executed through a Joint Venture Partnership with a Nigerian firm, Mercury Maritime Concession Company Ltd.
Customs Rakes In N115bn From Lagos Free Trade Zone In 6 Months
by Yahaya Umar
Lagos Free Trade Zone of the Nigeria Customs Service generated N115 billion in revenue over the past six months.
Its Customs Area Comptroller, Compt. Olanrewaju Olumoh, disclosed this at a stakeholders’ engagement in the Free Trade Zone in Lagos yesterday.
Olumoh expressed optimism that the command would meet and surpass its annual target by the end of the year.
He said, “The fallout from these visits necessitated the meeting today where we shall reveal our achievements so far and discuss matters that will improve operations in the Free Trade Zones under the Command.
“The initial revenue target given to the Free Trade Zone was N108.84 billion before it was reviewed to N136.05 billion for 2024.
“From January 2024 till date, the command has generated N41.3 billion from the Free Trade Zone, compared to N24.7 billion collected during the same period in 2023.
This shows an increase of N16.6 billion, representing a 67% rise over 2023″.
For Lekki Port, an initial revenue target of N6.61 billion was reviewed to N8.26 billion. From January to date, N74.67 billion was generated as revenue from the port.
Olumoh explained the fundamental benefits of establishing Free Trade Zones to include attracting foreign investments, promoting technology transfer, and creating job opportunities.
He stressed the importance of stakeholder collaboration in achieving these goals.
“It is important to keep sensitising agents and zone operators on the Standard Operating Procedures ,SOP, for Free Zones to enhance their compliance level and improve their capacity towards better service delivery”, Olumoh noted.
He emphasised that stakeholder engagement is about building relationships based on trust, transparency, and mutual understanding.
“We want to operate an open-door policy where we can entertain meaningful contributions to move the Command forward”, he said.
Olumoh commended the Zone management and other agencies, including the Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority ,NEPZA, Immigration and the Nigeria Police Force, for their continuous support in achieving these results.
He also recognised the critical role of the media in public sensitisation and enlightenment about Free Zones.
Mrs Oladunni Kareem, General Manager of Operations at Lekki Free Trade Zone, commended the NCS for the interactive session.
She emphasised the need for operators to be aware of customs procedures to reduce the time of doing business.
“We want trade facilitation and the Nigeria Customs Service is doing all it can towards that. Revenue collection for the government cannot be overemphasised; we have to operate side by side”, Kareem said.
She assured of continued collaboration with NCS to improve Nigeria’s trade environment.
Kareem noted that trade facilitation would encourage investors and help introduce the free trade zone to other investors, thereby creating more jobs for the youth.
