Business
ICRC, Shippers To Collaborate On Dry Ports Project
The Infrastructure Concession and Regulatory Commission (ICRC) is to collaborate with the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) to make Inland Dry Ports (IDPs) bankable and be attractive to more concessionaires.
The Acting Director-General of ICRC, Mr Chidi Izuwah, said this in a publication of the Council entitled “The Shipper’’, made available to newsmen in Lagos on Monday.
The Tide source reports that there are six (6) approved locations for the Inland Container Depots (ICDs) / Container Freight Stations (CFSs), which had been concessioned to private sector operators by the Federal Ministry of Transportation.
The six ICDs are: Isiala Ngwa in Aba, Erunmu in Ibadan, Heipang in Jos, Zawachiki in Kano, Zamfarawa, in Funtua and Jauri in Maiduguri.
Izuwah said that if the IDP was bankable, it would attract the right level of financing from lenders and make them viable.
He said that both the council and the Federal Ministry of Transportation were determined to make the IDP project successful.
According to him, IDPs are included in the National Economic Recovery and Growth Plan because the fastest way to increase such capacity in any country is to build dry ports.
“The IDPs will build industries around them because it is about transport and those area they are located will develop and grow our Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
“The government is working very hard. We have to face the reality, building a rail is expensive and takes time.
“The existing narrow gauge lines transverse our country very well and government is in the process of concessioning that narrow gauge lines to General Electric to provide freight services.,’’ he said.
According to him, presently many of the IDPs are located near the rail lines, so it is just to put a siding.
“The ones in Isiala Ngwa, Kaduna and Jos are near the rail and the next thing is to provide people who can operate the system,’’ he said.
Izuwah, who said that many people had good intentions, added that they were not able to appreciate what they needed to do in terms of preparation to develop the IDP project.
He said that the feasibility studies for the licensed IDPs were not properly done, stressing that there was no proper due diligence in terms of the promoters.
According to him, for one to have a dry port, one needs to have good connectivity between the ports and the IDPs.
“In Malaysia and in the Far East, they use IDPs in a standard process. The only thing they do at the ports is vessel handling.
“They do not clear goods at the ports, the container will just leave the vessel on the land and the vessel will go away and they move the containers to the IDPs.
“It is at the IDPs that the owner of the consignments will do Customs formalities and clear the goods.
“Also the Inland Dry Ports are points of origin and destination,” Izuwah said.
According to him, some of the processes required for establishing IDPs were not done properly; that was why the ICRC wanted to work with the Shippers’ Council to plug those gaps and make them bankable.
The Tide source reports that the NSC is saddled with the establishment of Inland Container Depots (ICDs) or IDPs under the Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative in the country.
“Payment of tuition fees for undergraduate/postgraduate studies shall be subject to a maximum limit of $25,000.00 per semester,” the Manual states.
The expansion of international card limits also reflects growing confidence among lenders that foreign exchange liquidity has improved enough to support retail dollar transactions.
Speaking recently at the BusinessDay 14th Annual CEO Forum in Lagos, CBN Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the CBN said buying and selling activities now increasingly determine outcomes in the foreign exchange market, unlike in the past when market participants relied heavily on routine Central Bank interventions.
According to Cardoso, Nigeria’s net foreign exchange reserves have risen from just over $3 billion at the start of the reform programme to more than $40 billion, while gross reserves have climbed to about $52 billion, providing stronger confidence for investors and enabling the Central Bank to reserve interventions for periods of market stress rather than day-to-day liquidity management.
The restoration and expansion of international naira card spending limits are increasingly being seen as one of the clearest signs that the benefits of the CBN’s foreign exchange reforms are beginning to reach households, students and businesses making legitimate cross-border payments.
The Secretary-General and Chief Executive Officer, WEC, Dr Angela Wilkinson, disclosed this in a statement, last Thursday.
“Nigeria’s participation comes at a pivotal time as the country seeks to expand energy access, strengthen energy security, accelerate gas development and mobilise the capital required for industrialisation and sustainable economic growth.
“WEC Nigeria will convene leaders from across the energy ecosystem, apply the WEC’s globally recognised Energy Trilemma framework to Nigeria’s unique context, and promote evidence-based dialogue, practical collaboration and informed policymaking.
“It will also ensure that Nigerian and broader African perspectives contribute meaningfully to global energy conversations,” she said.
Wilkinson expressed confidence that Nigeria would play a significant leadership role at the World Energy Congress scheduled for Riyadh in April 2027 and beyond.
The statement also quoted the Chairman of WEC Nigeria, Isa, as describing the country’s participation as an opportunity to deepen national and African leadership within the global energy community through practical solutions tailored to regional development priorities.
He said the platform would promote collaboration across sectors and attract sustainable investments into Nigeria’s energy sector.
The Chief Executive Officer of WEC Nigeria, Wunti, was quoted in the statement as saying that the council would connect leadership, evidence and investment to build a secure, affordable and sustainable energy system.
“This system will be capable of driving economic growth and shared prosperity.”
According to him, the platform will also connect Nigerian institutions and businesses with international knowledge, technology, partnerships and investment opportunities through the World Energy Council’s global network.
Recall that WEC, founded in 1923, is the world’s oldest independent and impartial community of energy leaders and practitioners, advancing informed, collaborative and practical action across the global energy system.