•Says implementation of performance improvement measures key
Oluchi Chibuzor
Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has disclosed that it recorded unprecedented revenue generation and remittances to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the Federation last year, as its revenue grew from N361 billion in 2022, to N501 billion as of December 2023.
NPA said its remittances increased from N93.4 billion in 2022, to N131.2 billion by year end 2023.
In a document titled, “Consolidation of superior performance at the Nigerian Ports Authority 2023 – a synopsis of the Authority’s performance improvement 2022-2023,” NPA also reiterated its ambitious $1 billion reconstruction plan for the Tincan Island Port Complex and the comprehensive rehabilitation of Apapa, Rivers, Onne, Warri, and Calabar port complexes.
The Authority disclosed that it had earmarked for similar reconstruction, under the new ports developments plan, the Badagry Deep Seaport, Snake Island, Burutu, and Ondo Deep seaports.
Other initiatives planned towards enhancing port competitiveness included the emplacements of the Port Community System (PCS) and National Single Window.
The NPA management said it was poised to transform the Authority’s strategic intent of being the maritime logistics hub for sustainable port services in Africa, from potential to actuality.
The management also stated that despite global economic headwinds that characterised 2023, the Managing Director, Mohammed Bello Koko, succeeded in leapfrogging Nigeria’s foremost trade facilitation platform to surpass its sterling performance of 2022.
It said the implementation of performance improvement measures resulted in unprecedented revenue generation and remittances to the CRF. The document also captured taxes paid to the federal government, which, according to it, grew at various times in the period under review, totalling $77.7 million and N17.6 billion, respectively.
NPA disclosed that it contributed to the deepening of Nigeria’s balance of trade through the promotion of exports, especially non-oil export, in response to the national exigency of strengthening the naira.
The management said in order to create new businesses and promote multi-modalism, in line with global best practice, as prescribed by the International Association for Ports and Harbours (IAPH), NPA initiated Barge Operations services, which, apart from reducing pressure on the roads, had grown into a N2 billion annual generation business both from direct investment and accompanying externalities.
According to the NPA management, “Movement of cargo by barge has greatly enhanced port-hinterland connectivity as evidenced by the meteoric rise in numbers from a total of 80,244 TEUs in 2022, which by 2023 had grown to 118,046 TEUs.
“The NPA, during the period under review, licenced 10 Export Processing Terminals to facilitate exports at Nigerian Sea Ports.
“This move, which provided a one-stop shop for export processing, where quality control, cargo assessment and statutory checks by all government agencies were carried out, was geared towards eliminating all bureaucracy and attendant delays that hitherto undermined the competitiveness of Nigerian exports in the International market place.
“The resultant effect of this initiative was a quantum leap in the numbers of Nigerian export-laden containers from 156,790 Twenty Foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in 2022, to 226,456 TEUs in 2023.”
Besides, NPA said it had grown the number of ship calls sequel to the consistent dredging of channels, installation of buoys, and improved security at the port channels. It said the number of ship calls grew from 1,997 in 2022, to 2,179 vessels by the end of 2023.
NPA disclosed that the Lekki Deep Seaport, which doubles as Nigeria’s first fully automated port at take-off, processed 6,076 TEUs of transhipment cargo. This, it explained, represented a swift move that signposted NPA’s readiness to cater to the maritime needs of Nigeria’s landlocked neighbouring countries, and “win back cargo hitherto lost to our maritime neighbours.”
The NPA management stated further, “To maximise the distinctive advantage of economies of scale that the Lekki Deep Seaport with its capacity to berth super post panamax vessels, the Authority in 2023 acquired and deployed two units of first-of-its-kind in Africa Azimuth Stern Drive (ASD) 8213 model 80 Ton Bollard Pull Tugboats to enable the berthing of very large vessels of 300 metres LOA and above.”
The management also stated that the Authority sustained its revenue performance during the period under review by looking beyond the sole dependence on earnings from core port operations. It said the Authority had set Public Private Partnership modalities in motion to derive revenue from Ports Independent Power Production, Bunkering Stations, Fallow Lands for Logistics, Fresh Water Provision and Ship Repairs and Maintenance, and to insulate its income from leakages, even as it firmed up its Revenue Invoice Management System (RIMs) to the cutting edge version of RIMs 2.0
NPA also disclosed that it collaborated with the NLNG Ship Management Limited to deploy the Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) to complement the newly-equipped control towers across its locations in order to assure stakeholders of its domain awareness capacity for enhanced security and response to emergent threats and vulnerabilities.
