The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said it has raised its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) between the months of January and September 2021 by earning N256.28 billion.
Mohammed Bello Koko, acting managing director of NPA, disclosed this in a document presented recently in Abuja to the House of Representatives Committee on Ports and Harbours.
He said the NPA earned N256.28 billion in IGR as against the expected N214.65 billion, and an approved estimate of N271.70 billion for the same period, representing performance growth of 120 percent or 95 percent of its total annual budget for 2021.
To achieve this, Bello Koko said the NPA reduced its operating costs by N10.39 billion, which is about 85 percent performance of the approved budget of N87.32 billion.
At the end of September 2021, he said, the actual spending was reduced to N55.10 billion from the budgeted figure of N65.49 billion, comprising employees’ benefits, pension costs, towage services, supplies, repairs & maintenance, and other administrative overheads.
He said the Authority has remitted the sum of N62.66 billion to Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) as of October 31, 2021, while a cumulative sum of N89.9 billion has been transferred to the CRF in the last six months.
According to Koko, the Authority is likely to exceed its 2021 revenue projections as well as the expected transfer to the CRF for the year 2021, which is expected to be over N80 billion.
To optimise cost for port operators and users, Bello Koko fine-tuned the implementation of the electronic call-up system for trucks known as ETO, which led to improvement in travel time along the Apapa port access roads in Lagos.
Also, NPA in conjunction with the Federal Ministry of Transport (FMoT) also reached out to the Federal Ministry of Works on the timely completion of the reconstruction work on the Sunrise to Mile 2 stretch of the Tin-Can Island Port corridor on Apapa-Oshodi Expressway.
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To complement the above, the NPA also launched ‘Operation Green’ to clear all illegal structures and shanties on the Apapa and Tin-Can Island Port access roads.
The NPA also disclosed that the International Maritime Organization (IMO) is providing technical aid to enable it to develop the Port Community System, which is expected to allow for ease of transaction and eliminate impediments associated with manual processes.
The NPA also procured 13 units of Security Patrol Boats (SPB) ready to be deployed across all pilotage districts including the establishment of Marine Police units in Calabar and Delta ports where none currently exists.
This, according to the authority, is expected to reduce attacks on vessels around the port area and boost the confidence of the international shipping community to use Nigerian ports.
Determined to improve cargo evacuation from the port and facilitate the quick return of empty containers, NPA also reviewed the modalities for registration and operations of barges. This includes a new Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) that provides for enforcement of safety and operational standards on-board barges.
In addition, NPA supported the use of privately managed jetties as part of measures to optimise inland barge services at the port and promote inter-modal transportation.
According to NPA, barges have taken the pressure off the roads as about 200,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers have been moved by barge this year alone.
To promote the export of non-oil products, NPA said is working closely with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) for the establishment of third-party dedicated export terminals to be located in Lagos and Ogun states.
The initiative is aimed at processing, packaging, and certification of exports under a one-stop-shop platform that houses all relevant agencies responsible for quality control and regulatory validation of exports before shipment.
This aims at enhancing Nigerian export cargo for shipment at the export parks without any further port clearance protocol. A pilot project has been established at the Lillypond Container Terminal in Lagos, while 10 other exports terminals are in the process of being certified to begin operations by the first quarter of 2022.
In the area of funding of capital projects, the NPA is already reviewing alternative sources of long-term, low-interest capital for port infrastructure development by engaging reputable funding institutions like the African Development Bank, the Chinese Exim Bank, and other Infrastructure Development Agencies.
Also, the NPA encourages port terminal operators to explore such options to fund the rehabilitation of port facilities and equipment.
