The Executive Secretary/CEO of Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Akutah Pius Ukeyima, has commended the West Africa Container Terminal (WACT) for its high level of investment, automation, and services in the maritime corridor.
The NSC boss gave the commendation during his recent visit to the terminal in Onne, Rivers State.
Speaking during the visit, Ukeyima described the terminal as one of the most modern terminals in Nigeria while also stating that the level of automation in the terminal is very high and is the only way of encouraging the ease of doing business.
He expressed satisfaction over the WACT Container Freight Station which promotes the exportation of non-oil products while aiding the consolidation of export cargoes, stuffing and unstuffing of import and export containers.
He also stated that the major concern of the government is to lower the cost of export and import business so that it will not impact more on the consumer and the exporter but rather reduce the cost to impact positively on the economy.
According to him, the federal government is engaging in implementing rail connectivity to minimize the cost of haulage transportation for investors. He further assured the terminal of regular support and collaboration.
He said ‘’I am satisfied with the level of investment I am seeing on ground and the services they are offering and the government on our part will continue to move this sector forward. The government is committed to growing this sector and we must do everything that is needed to support the sector.”
Also speaking, the CEO of APM Terminals Nigeria, Frederik Klinke said the company strongly believes in the Nigerian economy and thus, has made additional investment of over USD112 million in operating the facility to now being a state-of-the-art container terminal.
“We fully support and want to help facilitate the export drive that the government is pushing very successfully and that is the background of the millions of investment that is seen in our handling equipment and also the Container Freight Station which is indeed one of the ways we can directly impact the ability of exporters to bring their goods easier to the market,’’ Klinke said.
