$2.9b Escravos Seaport to decongest Lagos ports, generate 40,000 jobs

Mercury Maritime Concession Company (MMCC) Limited, the promoter of the proposed $2.9 billion Escravos Seaport Industrial Complex (ESIC-1) in Delta State, has said that the project would help to decongest the Lagos ports while attracting about $50 billion in foreign direct investment (FDI) to Nigeria when completed.

This was disclosed by the chairman of MMCC, Rear Admiral Andrew Okoja, (rtd) at a stakeholders’ forum held in Lagos at the weekend. Okoja said the Escravos Seaport project, which would be on 30,000 hectares of land in South West of Warri in Delta State, would not only decongest the Lagos ports but would bring in more people into the maritime industry.

Okoja disclosed that the project would generate about 40,000 jobs upon completion and eliminate criminality such as piracy in the region, especially as the Nigerian Navy would be present to protect the business.

He said other benefits of the project are to promote collateral investments in commerce, industry, mining, power, housing, recreation and tourism among others.

Okoja said the firm had secured a provisional approval from the Federal Government through the Ministry of Transportation with a deposit of $1 billion investment to be made soon as a show of commitment to the project.

According to him, the project component, which will include a deep seaport, free trade zone, crude oil refinery and gas complex would run on a ‘build, own, operate and transfer’ (BOOT) model and would be on lease for about 50 years, with the $2.9 billion funding coming from foreign investors.