The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) has approved a US$150-million senior loan to Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise for the construction of the Lekki port public-private partnership (PPP) project, 60 kilometres east of Lagos, Nigeria.

The loan is part of a combined US$256 million for the financing of investments in Nigeria and Ethiopia as well as a multinational projects preparation facility the AfDB is executing.

The project  involves construction of port infrastructure such as breakwaters, quays, approach channels, dredging of the basin as well as captive utilities such as water and power. On completion, the port would handle 2.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs), 16.7 million tonnes (MT) of liquid cargo and 4.5 MT of dry bulk. Construction is expected to start in January 2015 with the container terminal operations expected to start in December 2018.

The deep seaport is a US$1.5 billion PPP project between the federal government, Lagos State Government (LASG) and the Tolaram Group. The Federal Government of Nigeria approved in late August an equity investment for the project.

The project follows a 45-year concession granted to Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise (LPLE), the Special Purpose Vehicle, by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) under a build, own, operate and transfer scheme.

The project will make Nigeria the gateway to the West African region and will be one of the most efficient and modern maritime facilities, catering for containerised, liquid and dry bulk cargo par international standards.

In August 2012 ICTSI signed a sub-concession agreement with Tolaram Group, the Nigerian Port Authority and the Lagos State Government to develop and operate the container terminal to be built at Lekki port on an exclusive basis for a 21 years period. Later in Early February this year we reported that ICTSI sold to CMA CGM Group, a 25 % in the mentioned sub-concession agreement to build and operate the container terminal.