Nigerian ports gear up to win more traffic

WITH SA snaffling half of the African sea trade, it leaves the other ports in the continent struggling for a small share, according to Mallam Abdul Salam Mohammed, MD of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) His calculations show that Africa takes a 2% share of the total global shipping trade – and SA grabs its 1% half. He told the Nigerian Tribune that shipping companies only called at ports where their vessels were given adequate attention and were properly checked. For a long time, Mohammed added, the NPA has not lived up to its responsibility, and so he charged staff to brace up for the challenges that lie ahead. He said that the country’s ports jointly handled 54-million metric tonnes of cargo during 2007, excluding crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes.