By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has said it is working in tandem with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to free up spaces at the ports for cargoes arriving into the country.
This was disclosed by the Managing Director of the Port, Mrs Hadiza Bala Usman, while speaking at the inauguration of two new mobile harbour cranes (MHCs) in Apapa, Lagos, on Thursday.
Mrs Usman said the NPA was also engaging with private terminal operators to address increased cargo traffic it faces at the nation’s ports.
The new cranes were acquired by APM Terminals as part of its additional investment at the Apapa port for the period of 2020 – 2021.
Mrs Usman also said as the ports become more efficient, efforts must be made to enhance cargo delivery process.
“We are engaging with the Nigeria Customs Service to remove overtime containers from the port to free vital space for incoming cargo,” she said.
“We are also working with terminal operators to increase the barging of containers to take pressure off the roads.
“We have noted a significant growth in barging capacity and operations with more containers moved daily by barges from the port,” she added.
On his part, Mr David Skov, head of terminals, Africa and Middle East region at APM Terminals, said the company has invested $358 million in port infrastructure development and other upgrades.
“The additional investment we are making is to handle the increased trade volumes into Nigeria,” he added.
“Trade in Nigeria is growing due to the many favourable efforts and policies of the federal government of Nigeria including but not limited to the policy on ease of doing business and stabilisation of foreign exchange,” he further said.
Mr Skov also said with the new cranes, the terminal now operates with a total of 10 mobile harbour cranes and 23 rubber tyred gantry cranes.
Dipo Olowookere 
Modupe Gbadeyanka