NIGERIA – The Federal Government of Nigeria has partnered with Sealink Promotional Company limited to boost the utilization of Ajaokuta Jetty Landing Port.
The partnership was recently formalized when officials from the federal government and Sealink Promotional Company signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the use of Ajaokuta jetty landing port.
After the signing of the MoU, the Federal Government in a statement said that the partnership with Sealink was a giant stride in the actualisation of its bid to develop the economy and diversify from crude oil.
Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Arc Olamilekan Adegbite who signed the MOU on behalf of the government of Nigeria said that the use of waterways as means of transportation will significantly increase the volume of commerce.
Adegbite also noted that the jetty’s utilization would remove the huge logistics challenges encountered on the road, reduce the damage done to the roads by heavy-duty trucks as well as decrease the high cost of road maintenance.
The Minister for Mines and Steel Development further explained that the project is being executed in conjunction with Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) and is geared towards utilising the commercial value of the jetty and effective usage of the waterway.
In his statement, Adegbite applauded the collaboration, saying that such Public-Private Partnership would aid in economic growth and improve infrastructural development.
He saluted the doggedness of the team in bringing the project to fruition and assured the of the Ministry’s full support.
The Ajaokuta landing jetty port belongs to AJaokuta Steel Complex, Nigeria’s biggest industrial project that has been at the mercy of cyclical delays from inception in 1967 when a posse of Russian miners landed in the country to prospect for iron-ore somewhere around mineral-rich Middle Belt.
Moments of foot-dragging, approval delays, failed privatisation and several backs and forths had beset the project all through its 53 years.
The projects rescue came its way in October last year, when government opted for a Build Operate and Transfer arrangement with the Russian government, the concessionaire, which will deliver the project.
So far, the Nigerian government has invested $6 billion in the venture while it plans to commit a further $1.46 billion through a funding support from Afreximbank.
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