NPA reducing dwell time to attract more vessels to Nigerian ports – MD

001 — The Acting Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mohammed Bello Koko (middle) flagging off the new state of the art records center, flanked by the Executive Director, Marine and Operations of the Authority, Hon. Onari Brown (right), General Manager, Administration, NPA, Engr. Sylvester Ajibola (left), and the General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Communications, NPA, Olaseni Alakija (2nd left) during the official flag off of NPA the State of the Art Records Centre.

The Acting Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Mohammed Bello Koko says improving the turnaround time of vessels and reducing cargo dwell time is critical to attracting more vessels to Nigerian seaports and optimising the business opportunities that the landlocked countries present.

Bello Koko pointed out that the disruptions caused by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic present a learning curve, especially for organisations such as NPA that operate in a sector that is global in scope to be constantly ready for dynamics in the form of increased competition and innovation.

Mohammed Bello Koko stated this at the end of a recent retreat organized by NPA for its top management cadre in Lagos, disclosing that NPA is currently poised to creating and sustaining competitive advantage by offering best-in-class port operations. He said that the event was designed to strategise and craft smart actionable steps.

According to Koko, “Improving the turnaround time of vessels and reducing cargo dwell time is critical to attracting more vessels to our seaports and optimising the business opportunities that the landlocked countries with whom we share borders present a critical success factor in actualising our growth projections.

“The need to attract larger vessels and maximally benefit from the economies of scale that come with them shows that the ongoing efforts to have deep seaports in Lekki, Badagry and Akwa Ibom, among others are steps in the right direction.

“In the meantime, we are constantly scaling up our responsibility of dredging our channels to safely berth vessels of reasonable sizes whilst encouraging the use of flat bottom vessels (FBV) in areas of low draught.”

He further disclosed that as part of efforts to position NPA towards greater efficiency, safety and accountability, the management has outlined factors that would enhance such prospects as well as capacity to garner greater market share; which include infrastructural renewal and expansion, the introduction of barge operations and the automation of truck transit through the electronic call-up system.

Others include improvement in the sources of revenue and collection, plugging income leakages and reducing overhead costs, elimination of monopolistic conduct, formulation and implementation of policies aimed at incentivize patronage of the Eastern Ports and encouraging competition.