Lekki Port: Nigeria’s first deep sea port and Sub-Saharan Africa’s deepest port
•A strategic choice for the development of CMA CGM’s operations in Africa’s largest economy and West Africa’s first consumer market
•CMA CGM, second shipping company in Nigeria and on the African market
The CMA CGM Group,a world leader in maritime transport, and Lekki Port LFTZ
Enterprise (LPLE), the promoters of Lekki Deep Sea Port, are pleased to announce the
signing of a Memorandum of Agreement to operate Lekki Port’s future container
terminal. Located in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, the future Lekki Deep Sea Port
will be developed, built and operated by LPLE, a joint venture enterprise led by the
Tolaram Group, the Lagos State Government and the Nigerian Ports Authority.
As the container terminal operator, CMA CGM, through its subsidiary CMA Terminals,
will be responsible for marketing, operations and maintenance of the container terminal
at Lekki Deep Sea Port.Lekki port, Nigeria’s first deep-sea port
Upon completion in 2020, Lekki port will have 2 container berths and will be Nigeria’s
first deep sea port.
Speaking about this development,Navin Nahata, Chief Executive Officer of Lekki
Port LFTZ Enterprise, described the signing of the agreement with the CMA CGM
Group as another step in the right direction towards the actualization of the Port, which
would become the deepest port in Sub-Saharan Africa.
“We are excited about this development because CMA Terminals is a world class port
operator and can be relied upon to provide international port standard delivery services
at par with most modern ports around the world to the Nigerian port customers”he said.
On this occasion,Farid T. Salem, Executive Officer of the CMA CGM Group,declared:
“We are pleased to sign this Memorandum of Agreement with LPLE to operate
Lekki Port’s container terminal. As Nigeria’s first deep sea port, Lekki Port represents a
strategic choice for the CMA CGM Group. Thanks to its position and capacity, Lekki Port
will allow us to bring to Nigeria larger container ships from Europe and Asia to better
serve our customers and pursue our commitment to the development of the entire
region. With CMA CGM’s unique service offering and expertise combined with our
logistics and inland services, our presence in Lekki Port will benefit the entire Nigerian
supply chain and market as well as neighboring countries.”
The Federal Government of Nigeria recently pledged its total support to the Lekki Port
project during the official flag-off ceremony by President Muhammadu Buhari who was
represented by Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo.
A strategic choice for the CMA CGM Group’s development in West Africa
The choice of Lekki Port, which will aid the reduction of congestion in the port of Lagos,
is fully in line with the CMA CGM Group’s development in the region. Lekki Port’s
container terminal will allow the Group to develop its presence into West Africa’s first
consumer market and will serve as a transshipment hub, especially to neighboring
countries like Togo and Benin.
Upon completion, the container terminal will be equipped with a 1,200-meter-long quay
as well as 13 quay cranes and will have a capacity of 2.5 million TEUs (Twenty-foot
Equivalent Units). With its 16-meter depth, it will allow the Group to deploy ships with a
capacity of up to 14,000 TEUs. Operations are planned to start end of 2020.
CMA CGM, a partner of the development of Sub-Saharan Africa
The CMA CGM Group is highly committed to the development of port infrastructure on
the African continent where it is the second largest shipping company.
The Group is particularly present in Sub-Saharan Africa with a network of 75 agencies and nearly 1,400 experts. In the region, the Group operates 30 services thanks to a fleet of 87 ship scalling at 248 ports