Ground to be broken for 'largest port in Africa' in January 2015

Work on what is billed as the “largest port in Africa” is due to start in January 2015. “All feasibility studies which were required by the Nigerian Ports Authority have now been concluded and the Port & Free Zone is on track to begin construction in Q1 2015,” according to the Badagry website. Plans for the greenfield port of Badagry situated 55km west of Lagos were announced in 2012. Construction was initially due to start in 2014. Badagry is billed as the “most modern multipurpose port on the African continent,” and will be able to handle containers, bulk, liquid and general cargo, as well as ro-ro vessels, along seven kilometres of quay wall with a thousand hectares of dedicated yard, according to APM Terminals (APMT). The company will be developing the port and adjacent free trade zone together with Macquarie, Terminal Investment Limited (TIL), and Nigerian companies Orlean Invest and Oando. APMT currently handles 46% of Lagos container imports (with one million TEUs projected for 2014), according to a presentation given to the Lagos Chamber of Commerce in April 2014. There is a growing need for additional capacity. Nigerian container volumes are growing by 8-10% on an annual basis, with the ports expected to run out of capacity by 2017. Lagos, with a population of 10 million, is the secondfastest growing city in Africa, and the seventhfastest in the world. Plans for the adjoining Badagry Free Trade Zone include a power plant, oil refinery, industrial park, with warehousing and Inland Container Depot functions. The first phase of the project is scheduled to open in 2016. CAPTION Port of Lagos... ports are expected to run out of capacity by 2017.