TheCable

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has received the federal government’s approval letter to build the Badagry deep seaport.

The state received the approval letter at the recently concluded Ehingbeti Economic summit 2022, according to a statement on Thursday.

The statement said the approval authorises and provides legal basis for the concession of the Badagry deep seaport, following the issuance of the full business case certificate by the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) last April.

The $2.5 billion project, which will be funded through public private partnership (PPP), will be built on approximately 496 hectares of land.

It will also have 2,470m quay length container terminal, 560m quay length break bulk terminal, 360m quay length OSB terminal, and minimum of 18m depth.

The seaport also expected to generate 250,000 direct jobs, enhance government revenue and operate under a build operate and transfer (BOT) concession agreement.

In August, 2022, the federal executive council (FEC) approved $2.59 billion for the development of Badagry seaport under a PPP arrangement.

Receiving the letter, Sanwo-Olu said the Lekki seaport will be commissioned by the end of the year, adding that with the approval to build the Badagry seaport, logistics challenges will be addressed.

“We are excited that Lagos is on the way to having another deep seaport on the Western side of the city. Before the end of this year, we will be commissioning the Lekki Deep Seaport on the Eastern side. What it means is that, what we have been suffering as a logistics and commerce hub of West Africa will be addressed when we increase maritime infrastructure that improves turnaround time in this sector. With this, Lagos is assured to remain the economic and commercial nerve centre of the entire sub-Saharan Africa,” the statement quoted the governor as saying.

Meanwhile, Sanwo-Olu also signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Siemens Energy Limited and German-owned Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) to set up an energy training centre of excellence at the Government Technical College in Ikorodu.

The centre, which will be run in collaboration with the Lagos state technical and vocational education board (LASTVEB), will provide a needs-based technical and vocational education to over 16,000 young people between ages 15 and 35.

According to the statement, the programme is expected to produce highly skilled industry technicians.

Commenting on the initiative, Sanwo-Olu said a 30 percent slot would be allocated to female candidates to enhance women participation in engineering education.

“The deal with Siemens and GIZ, which are German companies, is another promise made and promise kept. We gave a commitment to this partnership because of the conviction we have for its necessity. Thousands of Lagosians will be trained with industry-required skills for the future of work at our vocational training college. We are excited because we are not only transferring skills to people in government, but private citizens as well. The best technicians in Germany will be conducting these trainings,” he added.

Sanwo-Olu also signed an agreement with Del York International Group for the entertainment giant to develop a purpose-built Lagos film city and ancillary infrastructure to reposition the state as the hub of entertainment.

He said the project will be located in Epe and sited on 100 hectares of land.

“It will be a mixed-use campus with the capacity to support daily activities of 5,000 to 10,000 visitors. The facility will be a sanctuary of entertainment, leisure, learning and it will be a place where films and creative industry professionals can live, learn and play,” Sanwo-Olu said.