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According to the half-year report from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian seaports welcomed a total of 1,851 vessels during the first half of 2023. These vessels carried approximately 707,985 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) of containers and handled 33,895,784 metric tons of cargo throughputs. The combined Gross Registered Tonnage (GRT) of the vessels was 57,870,083. These port activities played a crucial role in facilitating international trade in Nigeria, both by importing goods and exporting products during this period.

Compared to the same period in 2022, there was a 16.6 percent decrease in container volume, with 849,175 TEUs brought into the country by 1,992 ships, having a total GRT of 60.2 million tons.

During this period, the NPA generated revenue of over N191.4 billion from its operations. The Managing Director of NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko, expressed optimism in the report, projecting that the revenue is expected to exceed N500 billion by the end of the year, based on the recurrent trend of shipping volumes, which is anticipated to peak from July to December.

The NPA also remitted over N55.7 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) of the Federation during this period. Bello-Koko commended the remittances and expressed the intention to increase them as revenue grows in the second half of the year.

He also highlighted that despite the economic challenges faced, the operational statistics for the first six months were encouraging. The report mentioned various factors contributing to this positive outlook, such as the operations of Lekki Deep Seaport, expected restoration of the service boat management contract, digitalization efforts, and strengthened collection mechanisms.

Moreover, the average turnaround time of vessels, a crucial indicator of port efficiency, improved to 5.16 days.

Looking ahead, the NPA’s focus for the remaining half of 2023 will include finalizing financing arrangements for port rehabilitation, completing digitalization initiatives to enhance efficiency, and exploring opportunities to collaborate with landlocked neighboring countries like Niger and Chad to use Nigerian ports as a hub for transshipment cargo.

Bello-Koko reassured that the NPA would continue to enhance service delivery, prevent income leakages, reduce waste, and tighten collection mechanisms to exceed stakeholders’ expectations and support the national economy.

Emma Nwabunwanne, in response to the report, attributed the slowed volume of business at the port to the naira redesign policy, which affected economic activities in the first quarter of the year. He also pointed out that the continuous rise in foreign exchange rates and difficulties in accessing foreign exchange were factors contributing to the decline in volume.