Pius Akutah, executive secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), has commended West Africa Container Terminal (WACT) for its high level of investment, automation, and service offering in the nation’s seaport.
Akutah gave the commendation during his recent visit to the terminal in Onne, Rivers State.
Speaking during the visit, Akutah described the terminal as one of the most modern terminals in Nigeria and also lauded the level of automation in the terminal.
He said the use of automation is the only way to encourage ease of doing business at the port.
Akutah expressed satisfaction with the WACT Container Freight Station which promotes the export of non-oil products while aiding the consolidation of export cargo, stuffing, and unstuffing of import and export containers.
He said the major concern of the government is to lower the cost of export and import business and reduce cost impact on the consumers to impact positively on the economy.
According to him, the Federal Government is engaging in implementing rail connectivity to minimise the cost of haulage for investors. He further assured the terminal of regular support and collaboration.
“I am satisfied with the level of investment on ground and services rendered. On our part, we will continue to move this sector forward. The government is committed to growing this sector and we must do everything needed to support the sector,’’ he said.
Also speaking, Frederik Klinke, CEO of APM Terminals Nigeria, said the company strongly believes in the Nigerian economy and thus, has made an additional investment of over $112 million in upgrading the facility to become a state-of-the-art container terminal.
“We fully support and want to help facilitate the export drive that the government is pushing very successfully and that is the background of the millions of investment that is seen in our handling equipment and also the Container Freight Station which is indeed one of the ways we can directly impact the ability of exporters to bring their goods easier to the market,’’ Klinke said.
