The Infrastructural Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) has said that Nigeria is committed to establishing more dry ports to speed up economic growth.
The Director General of ICRC, Mr. Chidi Izuwah, said on Thursday when he led the management to inspect some Federal Government projects in Kano, including the dry port and the Oasis Oxygen Plant project at Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital.
Izuwah said that the Federal Government was also committed to the speedy completion of the Dala Inland Dry Port located at Zawachiki in Kumbotso Local Government Area of Kano State.
According to him, the establishment of such dry port is quite important for the country’s economy, being the commercial city in the north.
Izuwah noted that the Inland Container Depots (ICDs) in Nigeria is a catalyst for Trade Stimulation and Economic Development.
“It receives containers by rail or road from the seaport for inspection and clearance by the Customs as well as other relevant Authorities.
“It has all the loading and off-loading equipment needed to handle containers,” he said.
He said that the ICDs are expected to bring shipping services to the doorstep of shippers across the nation, assist in decongesting the seaports and make them more user friendly.
“Other benefits include providing the impetus to revive and modernise the railway as a primary mode for long-distance haulage as well as to assist in the overall costs of cargo to hinterland locations and transit cargoes to landlocked countries,’’ he said.
According to Izuwah, Nigeria’s seaport facilities have been over-stretched and this must have made the Federal Ministry of Transportation through the Nigerian Shippers Council, to come up with the idea of establishing the ICDs.
The Nigerian Shippers Council, is the agency charged with the duty of protecting the interest of shippers (importers and exporters).
He said that under the project, imported goods meant for certain hinterland would be transferred by rail or road to the facility where importers in the areas could access their consignments at cheap rates and closer to their warehouses and markets.
“The ICDs are also to serve as rallying points for exporters, where their consignments for export would be moved by using multiple modes of transportation (rail or road) to the conventional seaports.
“For effective coverage of the hinterlands across the country, there are seven approved locations for the Inland Container ICDs, which are under concession with Private Sector Operators,” he said.
MM/GIK/APA