The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), on Thursday, said the number of vessels that called at the Nigerian seaports increased by 9.1 per cent between 2022 to 2023.
According to a document titled, ”Consolidation of superior performance at the Nigerian Ports Authority 2023-A synopsis of the Authority’s performance improvement 2022-2023″, vessel calls increased from 1,997 in 2022 to 2,179 in 2023.
According to the authority, the increased number was achieved due to the dredging of channels, installation of buoys and improved security at the ports’ channels.
“The NPA had grown the number of ship calls following the consistent dredging of channels, installation of buoys and improved security at the ports’ channels. Also, the number of ship calls grew from 1,997 vessels in 2022 to 2,179 vessels by the end of 2023.”
Also, the document disclosed that the Lekki Deep Seaport, which doubles as Nigeria’s first fully automated port at take-off, processed 6,076 TEUs of transshipment cargo.
This, it explained, represented a swift move that signposted the NPA’s readiness to cater to the maritime needs of Nigeria’s landlocked neighbouring countries, and “win back cargo hitherto lost to our maritime neighbours.”
The authority said it remitted the sum of N501 billion into the Federal Government’s Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) account in 2023.
According to the management, remittances increased from N93.4 billion in 2022 to N131.2 billion by year end 2023.
The document also captured taxes paid to the Government of the Federation, which according to it, grew at various times in the period under review totaling the sum of USD$77.7 million and N17.6 billion respectively.
The NPA disclosed that it contributed to the deepening of Nigeria’s balance of trade through the promotion of exports of especially non-oiI export in response to the national exigency of strengthening the Naira.
NPA also disclosed that it enabled the movement of 118,046 TEUs of containers from the ports by barges during the same period.
According to the report, the authority implemented performance improvement measures that resulted in “unprecedented revenue generation and remittances” into the CRF, “with revenues steadily growing from N361 billion in 2022 to N501 billion as of December 2023”.
The document also stated that $77.7 million and N17.6 billion were paid as taxes to the federal government, “which grew at various times in the period under review”.
The agency said it contributed to deepening Nigeria’s balance of trade by promoting exports, especially non-oil exports, “in response to the national necessity of strengthening the naira”.
“Movement of cargo by barge has greatly enhanced port-hinterland connectivity as evidenced by the meteoric rise in numbers from a total of 80,244 TEUs in 2022, which by 2023 had grown to 118,046 TEUs.
“The NPA during the period under review licensed 10 Export Processing Terminals to facilitate exports at Nigerian seaports.
“The resultant effect of this initiative was a quantum leap in the numbers of Nigerian export-laden containers from 156,790 in 2022 to 226,456 TEUs in 2023.”
It said that the Authority had set Public Private Partnership modalities in motion to derive revenue from Ports Independent Power Production, Bunkering Stations, Fallow Lands for Logistics, Fresh Water Provision and Ship Repairs and Maintenance and to insulate its income from leakages, even as the Authority had firmed up its Revenue Invoice Management System (RIMs) to the cutting edge version of RIMs 2.0
The management also disclosed that the Authority collaborated with the NLNG Ship Management Limited to deploy the Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) to complement the newly-equipped control towers across its locations in order to assure stakeholders of its domain awareness capacity for enhanced security and in response to emergent threats and vulnerabilities.
