FG Grants Eco-Support 20-year Concession for part of Apapa Port

Federal Government  gave a 20-year concession for part of Apapa Port in Lagos to Eco Support Nigeria Ltd., which will spend $124 million over the next two years to expand capacity and meet increasing demand to ship oil and gas.

The area covered “will handle most of the trade relating to oil exports and imports through the Lagos port,” Transport Minister Idris Umar said today in the capital of Abuja.

President Goodluck Jonathan plans to lift spending on road, rail and power projects to spur business in the largest African oil producer. Nigeria on Oct. 26 gave a $370.5 million contract to expand Onne Port, near the oil region of Port Harcourt, to Intels Nigeria Ltd., Information Minister Labaran Maku said.

The country also approved an extra 8.5 billion naira ($54 million) to dredge and build inland ports along a 572-kilometer (355 mile) stretch of the River Niger from the southern city of Warri to the central town of Baro, Umar said. The government already approved 34.8 billion naira for the project in 2008.

Dredging will allow small- and mid-sized vessels to reach inland ports in Onitsha in the south and the central cities of Lokoja and Baro, he said. The project will provide alternative transport between northern and southern regions, Umar said.