The Federal Executive Council, FEC, has given its consent for the construction of a power station by the Nigerian Export Processing Zone Authority (NEPZA) in Akamkpa, Cross River State.
The Minister of Industry Trade and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, disclosed this at the end the council meeting in Abuja on Wednesday.
Adebayo said the contract for the power station, which will power the Calabar Export Processing Zone, was awarded to Messrs Mutual Commitment Nigeria Limited.
According to him, the exact contract sum is N35,411,119,159.47 and the contractor will finance 75 per cent of the project, which is in the sum of N26,558,339,337.10 while the NEPZA would finance 25 per cent, which translates to N8,852,779,792.37.
He said the council approved a payback period of 10 years of the contractor’s portion.
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Adebayo said on completion after 11 months, the plant will be operated by the contractor for five years, during which it will build local capacity that will take over the running of the plant.
He said, “The whole intention of the upgrade of the two zones is to create zones with world-class standards.
“The Ministry of Industry, Trade, and Investment is desirous of making Nigeria a manufacturing hub, especially now that we have signed on to the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA).”
