By Aliyu Galadima
Nigeria accounts for $28.2bn of the Sub-Saharan Africa ,SSA, port project pipeline, driven by large-scale projects such as the $12bn Olokola Deep Sea Port in Ondo, a report by BMI, a Fitch Solutions Company has said.
The research firm stated this in a report titled ‘Sub-Saharan African Transport Infrastructure Project Pipeline: Roads And Bridges Set To Drive Investment’.
The report noted that Tanzania and Kenya follow Nigeria in terms of project pipelines.
Despite disruptions to Tanzania’s planned $10bn Bagamoyo Mega Port project due to disagreements between the Tanzanian government and the prospective Mainland Chinese operator, the government has allocated $8.07bn towards the port’s development.
“Moreover, we anticipate that Kenya’s Lamu Port Project, located far north of Mombasa, will progress at a relatively slow pace due to delays in connecting infrastructure and limited investor interest”, Fitch said.
It noted that SSA accounts for 15.3% of the global port infrastructure project pipeline according to its Infrastructure KPD, with the region hosting projects involving a combined $88.7bn in investments.
According to Fitch, this positions SSA in the middle quintile, between the Americas, which hold a 22.0% share of the global ports project pipeline, and Europe, which accounts for 9.7%.
Globally, the SSA’s ports sector towers other infrastructure sectors in the region, with the rail sector representing merely 3.8% of the global rail project pipeline.
The report noted that the region’s port project pipeline is bolstered by fierce competition among SSA countries to become gateways and trade hubs for their respective sub-regions.
”In effect, new port projects account for 53.2% of the total count of port projects in SSA. Given the capital-intensive nature of these projects, the new projects account for $74.6bn of the region’s $88.7bn port project pipeline”, it said.
On roads and bridges the Fitch said as numerous SSA countries strive to enhance both trunk roads and feeder road networks, it anticipates investment in the road sector will contribute to the region’s transport infrastructure sector growth.
