Dr Charles Akhigbe, Chief Executive of AMES-Edo Inland Dry Port, says the project is an attractive investment opportunity and a financially profitable venture for stakeholders.
Akhigbe made the observation on Tuesday while receiving officials of the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) who visited the headquarters of the proposed AMES-Edo, Inland Container Depot.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the team, led by Ms Denny Lewis-Bynoe, a Senior Economist with IFC, was in the state on a two-day working visit.
Akhigbe said that the port would generate approximately N2.3 billion in the first year of operation and estimated N23.9 billion in10 years.
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He said the revenue were expected to be sourced from container (cargo) dues, storage charges, container stuffing/stripping charges, warehousing charges, delivery charges and freight/haulage income and truck parking charges.
He also told the visiting team that the project would be in two phases, adding that phase one would be for 12,000 TEUs (containers), while phase two would be for 8,000 TEUs (containers).
Akhigbe said that the ports would create employment for about 15,000 people.
He said that the objective of the port was to provide a one-stop-shop for import and export, adding that it would be fully private sector driven.
Lewis-Bynoe said that the visit was to the state in general and some selected private sector organisations in particular was for consultations to understand constraints in doing businesses by the private sector participants.
She also said that the assessment, which was a joint project between the IFC and World Bank, was to understand problems faced by the private sector with a view to helping and supporting them to strategise.
She said this would help position private sector enterprises “to leverage and skill up performance.”
She said that the team’s visits to the proposed AMES Edo Inland Dry Port was to explore cooperation for SMEs growth in the state. (NAN)
