Nigeria’s Lagos state government and China Development Bank (CBD) have signed a $629 million agreement for the construction of Lekki Seaport.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, who signed the deal with the bank late on Wednesday in Lagos, said that the agreement was another milestone for the state in commerce, as the signing had ended the period of uncertainty that had trailed the delivery of the project.
He said the completion of the project would invigorate the Lagos economy and push it up in the index of largest economies in the world.
“This is a new beginning for us in Lagos. We have achieved another milestone in our efforts to transform the state and accomplish the 21st century economy ambition.
“As a government, we are fully in support of the project. We will do all we can to ensure the terms of the agreements signed today are delivered within 30 months as agreed.
“We expect that the outcome will catalyse Lagos’ fifth largest economy and take it up more in the index of largest economies in years to come,” Sanwo-Olu said.
The governor said that in the coming weeks, more trade agreements would be signed with foreign investors and that his administration would continue to explore investments and partnerships that would accelerate growth and benefit residents of the state.
The $629 million financing facility is to accelerate the completion of the Lekki Deep Seaport project, which started in 2011.
The loan was secured from the Chinese bank after China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC), which owns majority shares in the project, signed a 45-year concessionary agreement with Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Ltd (LPLTZ) to complete the Phase 1 of the deep seaport project.
After completion, the deep seaport would have two container berths of 680-metre long and 16.5-metre water depth and have capacity to be berthed by fifth generation container ships, which has a capacity of 18,000 TEU ship.
MM/GIK/APA