The Governor of Cross River state, Ben Ayade has described the signing of the transaction advisory for the full business case between the Cross River state government and CPCS Transcom Limited of Canada on the construction of the Bakassi Deep Seaport as a major milestone for the state.
Under the terms of the agreement, CPCS is expected to deploy its vast international expertise in the areas of transaction structuring, public-private partnerships (PPP), financial and economic modeling, as well as engineering and social and environmental advisory in the execution of the project.
Speaking shortly after signing the agreement on behalf of the state government, Governor Ayade said the development “marks the beginning of the realization of the Bakassi deep seaport with an evacuation corridor stretching from Bakassi to Northern Nigeria.”
He said to ensure compliance with the local content policy of the state government, fifteen young Cross Riverians are to be engaged by the firm.
He commended President Muhammadu Buhari, the Minister for Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission for the support given to the project.
The 21 meters draft seaport, according to him, will be successful given its location, insisting it will get additional impetus from the viability of the Gulf of Guinea and its maritime corridor.
“The evacuation corridor shortens the journey between Northern Nigeria and the Atlantic coastline and that is what we have done to bring Northern Nigeria closer to the Atlantic Ocean.”
He said his administration has ensured that the port will not suffer the problem of not having outbound cargo.
Towards this end, he disclosed that his government embarked on “agro industrialization to ensure we provide enough outbound cargo for the Bakassi deep Sea port“, adding that “Nigeria will get a new identity on the basis of the Bakassi deep Sea port and the Super highway.
“So the cumulative impact of this is that there will be a huge maritime trade within the Gulf of Guinea and between Nigeria and Europe and China and indeed America and more importantly there will be sufficient outbound cargo. For me, CPCS should have more than enough data to justify the viability of this project.”
Earlier, representative of CPCS and leader of the team, Mr. Jonathan Millard, shortly after a virtual meeting between the state government and the management team of the Ontario, Canada-based firm, expressed confidence in the viability of the project, just as he looked forward to a timely completion of the project.