The Lekki deep seaport in Lagos will be completed in 30 months following the injection of a fresh $269 million by a Chinese investor, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu said on Wednesday.
Sanwo-Olu, who witnessed the signing of four agreements with China Development Bank (CDB), including a $629 million financing facility, said it would accelerate the completion of the port project, which started in 2011.
The loan was secured from the Chinese bank after China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), which owns majority shares in the project, signed a 45-year concessionary agreement with Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Limited (LPLTZ) to complete the Phase 1 of the project.
After completion, the deep seaport would have two container berths of 680-metre long and 16.5-metre water depth. It will also have the capacity to berth 18,000 TEU ships.
Sanwo-Olu described the development as “another milestone” for the state in infrastructural development and commerce, saying the signing of the agreements ended period of uncertainty that had trailed the delivery of the project.
He noted that the completion of the project would invigorate the Lagos economy and push it up in the index of largest economy in the world.
“This is a new beginning for us in Lagos. We have achieved another milestone in our efforts to transform the state and accomplish the 21st-century economy ambition.
“As a government, we are fully in support of the project. We will do all we can to ensure the terms of the agreements signed today are delivered within 30 months as agreed and we expect the outcome would catalyse Lagos’ fifth-largest economy and take it up more in the index of largest economies in years to come,” he said.
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