The economic policies of President Bola Tinubu which have attracted global applause, are responsible for transforming the maritime industry and improving revenue generation, according to Mohammed Bello-Koko, managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
Bello-Koko made this assertion during an unscheduled visit to the Lagos ports access roads that the NPA recently cleared decade-long traffic gridlock.
He lauded Adegboyega Oyetola, minister of Marine and Blue Economy for leadership and hands-on approach to driving the industry.
He said the sanity that has since returned to the ports’ access roads will be sustained to promote ease of doing business and drive exports to enhance Nigeria’s trade balance in line with President Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He added that despite global economic headwinds that characterised the year 2023, the Nigerian Ports Authority succeeded in maintaining sterling performance.
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“The implementation of continuous performance improvement measures resulted in unprecedented revenue generation and remittances to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the Federation, with revenues steadily growing from N361 billion in 2022 to N501 billion as of December 2023, and remittances increasing from N93.4 billion in 2022 to N131.2 billion by year-end 2023,” he said.
He said that taxes paid to the Government also grew at various times in the period under review up to $77.7 million and N17.6 billion respectively.
He listed projects such as the $1 billion worth reconstruction of the Tin-Can Island Port Complex and the comprehensive rehabilitation of Apapa, Rivers, Onne, Warri and Calabar Port Complexes among 2024 targets.
Others include new port developments including Badagry Deep Seaport, Snake Island, Burutu and Ondo Deep Seaports, the Port Community System (PCS) and the National Single Window among other initiatives for port competitiveness being aggressively implemented.
“The Nigerian Ports Authority has been positioned to not only create but sustain the superior performance necessary to maximise the comparative advantages that Nigeria’s maritime endowments confer,” he assured.
