The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has said it is repositioning all seaports in the country to be efficient and reliable gateways for maritime trade as the nation prepares to tap the enormous benefits inherent in African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement.

Speaking at the maiden edition of the Nigerian International Maritime Summit (NIMS) which held recently in Lagos, the acting managing director of NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko said repositioning the seaports will optimize Nigeria’s trade interconnectivity with other countries under the AfCFTA agreement.

Bello-Koko, who was represented by the executive director, Marine and Operations, Onari Brown, disclosed that the authority having keyed into the federal government’s agenda to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty within a decade, has prioritized the expansion and improvement of port infrastructure, including ICT and security systems.

NPA Repositions Seaports For Intra-Africa Trade
This, he said, was to significantly bring down transportation costs of Nigeria’s trade within the continent and globally.

“Given the urgency with which the new vistas of opportunity of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement beckons, the authority is eager for actionable ideas and synergistic partnerships that the summit promises to deliver.”

“The promotion of the African Union agenda of well-interconnected and integrated networks of transport infrastructure to boost opening of markets and increase intra-regional trade, will serve to complement our ongoing aggressive efforts at attaining seamless port hinterland connectivity through multi-modalism.”