operators move upstream

The smaller Nigerian river ports remain vital for import cargo in the Delta region, but also for logistics support of the oil and gas sector. Nigeria has invested heavily in the development of Onne Port, which is located 30km downstream from Port Harcourt, by upgrading both the Federal Lighter Terminal (FLT) and the Federal Ocean Terminal (FOT). The private sector has also been heavily investing in the Free Zone, with over US$300m invested. Onne port has two terminal operators, Intels Services that operates at the FOT and FLT Onne, and Brawal Services that operates at the FLT "B".

The Nigerian government has still to complete the final concessioning of the remaining part of Onne, which is used by West African Container Terminal (WACT). It would appear that the process may be academic, since according to one Onne port employee WACT is likely to be the concessionaire at the end of the whole exercise. Further east, Calabar is situated 83km up the Cross river, and is presently being dredged to 10 metres. Ecomarine – also with a concession in Lome – won the concession and is now fully operational, offering multipurpose facilities with 480 metres of quay, 3.5ha of open storage and 2.1ha of warehousing.