Obaseki, Chinese group seal deal on new Benin port, link to Lekki deep seaport
More positive fallouts on the sidelines of the ongoing Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FoCAC) Summit in Beijing, China have been recorded by Nigeria.
The Edo state government within the period under review sealed an agreement with a Chinese firm, China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) to build a port on the Benin River. Governor Godwin Obaseki and the company’s vice president Li Yi signed the agreement for both parties in a ceremony held at the Nigerian Embassy in Beijing, China.
The Governor, who was on the entourage of President Muhammadu Buhari averred that the agreement was to build a port on the Benin River, dredge the river which is a channel of about 40 kilometres, and to build a link road to join the bye pass.
The proposed port would link Lekki deep sea port and help decongest the ports in Lagos, the governor said.
“The company we are working with is the largest investor in the Lekki deep sea port. So the Benin River port is going to be a sister port to the Lekki deep sea port. We expect that up to 30 per cent cargo going to the Lekki deep sea port would be meant for Benin port,” he said.
He added that the construction of the Benin port would also provide opportunities to export agricultural and manufactured products being produced in the in the state. “We are investing massively on agriculture particularly.
