SIFAX looks to Warri

News-in-print 1 May 2018 by WCN Editorial

A consortium of Nigerian companies led by SIFAX Group has won the tender for the concession to operate Terminal B at the Port of Warri.

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It has taken a long time to reach this stage, with the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) and the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) first advertising the tender process in 2014.

A total of 13 expressions of interest were received, of which seven prequalified for the next stage. Five of those submitted their bids in January 2017, and the technical proposals of two were accepted – the Ecomarine consortium and SIFAX’s Ocean and Cargo Terminal Services consortium. As preferred bidder, the SIFAX consortium will now negotiate details of the 25-year concession with various government agencies involved.

The SIFAX submission was chosen when the financial bids were opened, with its offer of US$25.5M in return for the concession. Taiwo Afolabi, group executive vice chairman of SIFAX, said: “We are not unaware of the enormous responsibility this victory has conferred on us. However, it is familiar territory for us, having successfully operated the Terminal C at the Tin Can Island Port in Lagos for the last 12 years.”

Warri, which lies in the western part of the Niger Delta, has, over the past 20 years, been more associated with petrocrime and social unrest than trade. The poor security situation has deterred trade at the port. Local business associations have asked the IMO to stop blacklisting Warri due to the security challenges affecting the port. The Forçados River is to be dredged to provide access to the port, although the designated new depth has not been announced.

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This complete item is approximately 300 words in length, and appeared in the May 2018 issue of WorldCargo News, on page 17. To access this issue download the PDF here.