Lagos to become continental logistics hub, says Sanwo-Olu

The Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said that his administration is determined to make Lagos a continental business hub.

Sanwo-Olu said this on Monday in Lagos during the arrival ceremony of the largest container vessel to berth in West Africa, ‘CMA CGM Scandola’, at the Lekki Deep Seaport.

The governor appealed to shipping companies to ensure that vessels of this size often berth at Lagos ports.

“Let us see vessels of this type keep coming back over and over to this port because we want to make this place not just a West African hub, we want to make it West African, Central African, and if they want, South African hub for all logistics and container terminals,” he said.

The governor stressed the need to build bigger port facilities in the state and beyond.

“We are excited that we found a home in Lekki, in Ibeju Lekki here in Lagos, and also the home for the Lekki Deep Port. Our capacity has since grown, and we know as a nation, we needed to think about the need to build bigger infrastructure,” he said.

Also speaking, the Managing Director of CMA-CGM Nigeria Shipping Limited, Hinelder Ferreira, said by deploying biomethane and e-methane-ready container ships, “the company has demonstrated once again its commitment to supporting West Africa’s supply chain by increasing deployed capacity, as well as the group’s role as a pioneer to decarbonise shipping and logistics’ in the region and worldwide.”

Ferreira said the vessel  currently runs on LNG, improving air quality by avoiding up to “99 per cent of sulfur emission, 92 per cent of nitrogen oxide emission and 91 per cent of particulate matter,” noting that once supply was available, the vessel would be capable of using BioLNG (liquefied biomethane produced from biowaste), and e-methane (synthetic-methane produced from decarbonized hydrogen), a source of carbon-neutral fuel.”