A ceremony was held in Lagos, the economic center of Nigeria, to commence service of the Lekki port.
The project was invested, built and will be operated by China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd., a subsidiary of China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC).
A bird's-eye view of the Lekki port in Nigeria [Photo/sasac.gov.cn]
Construction of the project started in June 2020 and CCCC will operate the port for 45 years.
With a total investment of more than $1.04 billion, the project is the first Chinese enterprise-funded modern deepwater port in the Gulf of Guinea and one of the largest ports in West Africa.
Located in the Lagos Lekki Free Trade Zone, the project included construction of two container berths, one tugboat dock, a 2.7-kilometer seawall and retaining wall, the dock basin, a 9-kilometer shipping course and a 470,000-square meter land area.
The Lekki port is available for berthing of the container ship carrying 18,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEU) and can handle 1.2 million TEUs annually.
Once operational, it is expected to make Lagos a shipment logistic center in Central and West Africa, which will promote economic development in Nigeria. It also sets a model for the Chinese mode of port-driven regional development in Africa, which is of great significance to the co-construction of the Belt and Road.
(Executive editor: Wang Ruoting)
