The Director-General of the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission, Dr Jobson Ewalefoh, has announced the planned construction of the 3.5 billion dollar Bakassi Deep Seaport, which, according to him, will take off soon.
The announcement was made in a statement issued by the agency’s Acting Head of Media and Publicity, Ifeanyi Nwoko, on Monday. The statement was released during a High-level Stakeholders’ meeting, where a statement of endorsement for the port project was signed.
The DG note the construction of the project has been planned to commence at a good to ensure its completion at arecorec time. He noted that the project had been planned to commence during the administration of Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River State.
He noted that the recent assurance came from the level of commitment made by the state government in the construction of the project. The DG also confirmed that the state has the zeal needed for the takeoff of the all-important project. He also noted that the the newly streamlined ICRC Public Private Partnership processes, the securing of a financier for the project, and the support of all other stakeholders present have all supported the new move for the construction.
He disclosed that the project would cost 3.5 billion dollar and funded from the African Import-Export Bank which has been secured would be xecuted as a PPP project.
Ewalefoh noted that they have made it easier by streamlining the process for the PPP with the aim of ensuring a faster process than before.
He told the Governor of Cross River that the plans have been concluded to complete the project during his time as the governor of the state noting that it will be supported by the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, while the shippers council would act the key stakeholders in the project execution.
The D-G explained that the port was very important, noting that it would diversify the traffic from the Western Port and serve as a succour to the Eastern parts of Nigeria.
According to him, the Bakassi Deep Seaport is an Agro-Value-Chain port that will explore the potential in the nation’s agricultural sector in the South-South part of Nigeria, the North as well as all of Africa.
Ewalefoh appreciated Afreximbank for believing in the state and Nigeria, and he reassured investors that Nigeria was a choice destination for investment opportunities.
The statement disclosed that the high point of the meeting was the signing of the declaration of endorsement by all critical stakeholders to the projects, including the ICRC and the Cross River State Government. The signing was also concluded by the Nigerian Ports Authority and the Nigerian Shippers Council.
