The Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala-Usman, on Tuesday confirmed an exclusive report published by SHIPS & PORTS DAILY that the review of ports concessioning agreement would be completed within the next three months.
SHIPS & PORTS DAILY reported on September that NPA and private terminal operators at the nation’s seaports had set November 28, 2018 as deadline to review the concession agreement.
While making a presentation on “Ports Governance Models- Our Experience” at the ongoing regional conference of the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH) in Abuja on Tuesday, Bala-Usman said NPA was meeting with the terminal operators to get their inputs on the review of the agreement.
“We have an inter-agency which has all the agencies of government that are part of the concessioning process.
“Also included in the review of the concession process are the Office of the Attorney-General, Bureau of Public Enterprises, Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Transportation, NPA and technical support from World Bank.
“Nigeria should expect a supplementary agreement that will be signed with the concessionaires,” Bala-Usman said.
The NPA boss said that there would be deliberate deployment of multi-modal transportation modes into all ports in Nigeria.
She said NPA would enter into agreement with any private company interested in partnership with it.
Bala-Usman said there was need for strategic decisions on the future of NPA as the ports landlord, while government should provide attractive conditions for direct foreign investments.
She stressed the need for the implementation of a 25-year port master plan, massive investments in the upgrade of port infrastructure as well as automation of port operations in the country.
