Lagos State Government on Monday disclosed that it secured $629 million loan to part-fund the Lekki Deep Sea Port Enterprise Limited project.
The Commissioner for Commerce, Industry, and Cooperatives, Dr. Lola Akande, gave this hint during the year 2021 ministerial press briefing to mark Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s second year in office.
According to her, the loan, which is secured from China Development Bank (CBD), is to facilitate the construction, completion and early operation of the project.
She said that the current completion rate of the project as at February 2021 stood at 47 per cent, that the trial operations of had been tentatively scheduled for the third quarter of year 2022 and that the commercial operations is slated for first quarter of year 2023.
The commissioner explained that the project had created about 611 jobs so far.
The Lekki Deep Sea port project covers over 90 hectares in the Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ) and it is the first deep sea port to be built in Nigeria under the Build Own and Transfer (BOT) arrangement.
Initially projected to cost $1.5 billon, the deep sea port project commenced in December 2017 and following its recent review, the project is expected to be completed in 2023.
When completed, the Lekki Deep Sea Port is expected to be one of the most modernized ports in the West African sub-region and support the growth of commercial maritime business operations in the region as well as reduce the pressure on Apapa ports.
