Nigeria’s first deep sea port is at 48 percent completion and will begin commercial operations in the first quarter of 2023. The Lekki Deep Sea Port, which is being constructed by China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC), is occupying 90 hectares of the entire 830 hectares of land carved out for the Lagos Free Zone, created in 2012 to enhance the economic position of Lagos as a manufacturing and logistics hub in West Africa.
The size of the deep seaport will allow 18,000 TEU (Twenty-foot Equivalent Unit) capacity vessels, which are four times bigger than the ones berthing at the existing Apapa seaports in the state, thereby scaling down the cost of container transportation from any part of the world. When completed, the deep seaport is expected to generate more than 170,000 direct and indirect job opportunities and serve as an alternative to decongest the sea ports in Apapa. The Lekki Deep Sea Port project is progressing well and that CHEC will make sure the first deep sea port in Nigeria will be completed on time in 2023.