Nine more financial institutions have plans to finance the Lekki port public-private partnership (PPP) project, located at 60 kilometres east of Lagos, Nigeria.

According to sources, the banks involved in the deal are the following:

• European Investment Bank,
• Standard Chartered Bank,
• Merchant Bank,
• Stanbic IBTC,
• Africa Finance Corporation,
• Proparco,
• Entrepreneurial Development Bank,
• German Investment and Development Corporation, and
• International Finance Corporation (IFC).

This announcement comes after the Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group (AfDB) approved, in mid September, a US$150-million senior loan to Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise (LPLE), the Special Purpose Vehicle for the project. 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 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.