A.P Moeller-Maersk A/S is at the verge of winning a lucrative contract to build a new port worth over $2billon in Badagry area of Lagos state, Nigeria. The Danish company which has expanded its African operations is waiting for final sign-off on the contract according to its company’s senior vice president for Africa, Lars Reno Jakobsen.
Mr Jackobsen, revealed in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Cape Town that, the contract which is expected to be signed sometime this year will provide capacity, not only for containers, but also for oil, break-bulk and offshore.
Maersk, which also plans to upgrade ports in Kenya is currently employing almost 10,000 people in more than 40 African nations and generates about 10 percent of its sales in and around the continent.
Jacobsen confirmed that the company is actively looking in East Africa for opportunities. “There is an ongoing tender process for the port of Mombasa, where APM Terminals has shown interest” in building two new berths in the Kenyan city”, Jakobsen said.
The Copenhagen-based company also supplies oil- and gas-related services and the company’s APM Terminals unit operates 10 West African ports. Maersk is also working on a $1 billion expansion to Ghana’s Tema port in collaboration with the west African nation’s ports authority. The project includes the construction of four new berths and will more than quadruple the port’s capacity according to reports.
The company In 2013 also partnered with Bollore SA and Bouygues SA to win a 450 million-euro ($500 million) contract to build a second container terminal in Abidjan, Ivory Coast’s commercial capital. The terminal is expected to start operating next year as planned an official said.
Maersk sales from Africa have been growing five percent to six percent a year, tracking the continent’s economic growth, and the company’s vice president for Africa expects the trend to continue. In his words, “Shipments of agricultural products, textiles and clothing are rising as the continent diversifies its trade away from raw materials, while more electronic and consumer goods are being imported as household incomes rise”.
“Africa is moving up in the value chain,” Jakobsen said. “People can now probably afford things they couldn’t earlier on. Underlying sentiment is positive. You are still seeing quite healthy growth.”
