Poor ease of doing business at ports fueling more termination of concession deals
Indications have emerged that more key concession deals sealed under Lekki Free Trade Zone (LFTZ) may be jettisoned in coming months following the recent withdrawal from related concession agreement by Manila-based container terminal operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI).
Checks by Business Hilights at the LFTZ maritime division showed that almost all the operators are getting frustrated in doing business and investing more due to what they described as government agencies’ bureaucracies and wanton delays in getting needed approvals and even in the execution of approved schemes.
That the ICTSI’s subsidiary, Lekki International Container Terminal Services LFTZ Enterprise (LICTSE), and Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise (LPLE) had agreed to terminate the sub-concession agreement signed in 2012 is no more an issue, rather the more disturbing scenario is the fact that more deals sealed in the Zone are facing similar fate if government fails to do the needful by way of keeping to agreements.
Business Hilights gathered at the site that the cutting short of the sub-concession agreement was begun from Wednesday last week, May 24, 2017.
Details showed that the terminated sub-concession agreement had granted LICTSE an exclusive right to develop, operate, and to provide handling equipment and container terminal services within the port located at Ibeju Lekki, Lagos State, for a period of 21 years.
The terminal was to feature a 1,200-meter quay with 14 Post-Panamax cranes, making it one of the largest single terminals in Sub-Saharan Africa.
