Onitsha River Port Has Been Concessioned.

Forum 1 year ago

Onitsha River Port Has Been Concessioned.

Onitsha River Port has finally been concessioned. FEC approved the concession in Feb 2022, and on June 30, 2022, the concession contract was signed, in Abuja (“commercial close”).

Next step is financial close, and then formal commencement of the 30-year concession.

Concessionaire: Universal Elysium Consortium, led by Dr. George Nwangwu, lawyer, academic & expert on infra regulation & privatization

Concession model: Rehabilitate, Operate & Transfer (ROT)

Concession Period: 30 years

Onitsha Port: >12 Ha land; 324m wharf, expandable by 234m

You know why Onitsha River Port is so important ie why it has so much potential?

According to National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), 60% of the containers that arrive Nigeria through Tincan, Apapa & Onne Ports end up in the South East.

They mostly travel by road (trailers)

Nigeria has 4 River Ports:

Onitsha (Anambra)
Lokoja (Kogi)
Baro (Niger)
Oguta (Imo)

Onitsha Port is the first to be successfully concessioned.

@NigeriaGov says the remaining 3 will also be concessioned, and the lessons learnt from the Onitsha process will come in handy.