China Harbor Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC) has handed over Lekki port, Nigeria’s first deep seaport, to the government following completion.
The port will meet the needs of Nigeria’s economic development, said Cui Jianchun, Chinese ambassador to Nigeria in an interview with Chinese state media Xinhua.
As a commercial project of tripartite cooperation between China, France, and Nigeria, Lekki port is of great significance for promoting the Belt and Road cooperation in Africa, said the ambassador.
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The container terminal is equipped with a 1,200-metre-long quay as well as 13 quay cranes and has a capacity of 2.5 million TEU.
The Lekki Deep Sea Port was constructed by CHEC and is the first of its kind in Nigeria.
The $1.6 billion project was announced as part of the Nigerian federal government’s wider plan to develop six new deep sea ports in the south-west and south-south areas of Africa, to be carried out via public-private-partnerships.
“This new port will position Lagos as a new maritime logistics hub not only in West Africa, but in the whole Central and West African region,” said the Governor of Lagos State Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the ceremony.
The newly completed project will create nearly 200,000 direct and indirect jobs in Nigeria in the coming years, unlock the country’s economic potential, and boost the country’s revenue, Governor Sanwo-Olu added.
