23 OCTOBER 2015
This Day (Lagos)
Nigeria: Concessionaire Boosts Trade With N29 Billion
By John Iwori
One of the concessionaires in the nation's seaports, West Africa Container Terminal (WACT) has enhanced trade in Nigeria with an investment of N29 billion.

The concessionaire was one of those that took over the day-to-day running of the terminals in the wake of the port reforms during Chief Olusegun Obasanjo's administration.

The exercise, which was supervised by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and concluded in 2006, barred the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) from cargo handling in the nation's seaports.

With the investment, WACT which is one of the subsidiaries of Danish port operator and logistics giant, AP Moeller-Maersk Group, said it had positively impacted trade and economic activities in the country by increasing the competitiveness of its operational base, Onne Port Complex, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Data obtained by THISDAY showed that the firm, which operates a container terminal at Onne Port Complex, has succeeded in making its terminal attractive for shipping lines to sail directly from Asia, particularly China, America and Europe to Onne with vessels as large as 4000TEUs capacity.

"This has had a direct impact on the cost of goods as compared to past. This was achieved by N29 billion investment made by the company in terms of yard capacity, introduction of sophisticated cargo handling equipment and electronic solution for invoicing and payments, reducing vessel waiting time, dwell times and above all reducing the number of days for containers to arrive Nigerian markets from the origin of shipment", the company said.

Managing Director of WACT, Mr. Martin Jacob, who confirmed the development, stated that Onne port is now more competitive with an average of three direct vessel calls per week from China.

He revealed that WACT Onne is a one-stop shop business environment that houses shipping lines and government agencies within the terminal to reduce travel time for customers and increase the ease of doing business.

His words: "WACT is determined to becoming the new hub of economic activities in Nigeria, being the gateway to major markets in Onitsha, Kano, Abuja, Nnewi, Enugu, Aba, Ogidi and Port Harcourt, which will in turn boost the nation's economy. Hence, our resolve to keep investing and increasing the competitiveness of the WACT so that larger ships can call the port directly and importers don't have to travel hundreds thousands of miles to collect their goods when they can easily do that in Onne."

According to Jacob, "WACT, which started commercial operations in 2007, is also planning to begin a roll on-roll-off (RoRo) service where vehicle importers can clear their cars in Onne and also increase stacking area by 100,000 square metres. "We have proven to be one of the most customer friendly ports in Nigeria. WACT is the most efficient gateway to most markets outside greater Lagos area. The terminal has a capacity of 314,000 TEUs and 250 reefer plugs with a depth of 12 metres." Cc: Lalasticlala.