BUA Group logo. Photo: BUA

BUA Group has announced plans to invest $85m in the expansion of its BUA Ports and Terminals facility in Port Harcourt.

This is even as the company said it is preparing to handle more than two million tonnes of imported raw materials annually for its growing food business, according to a statement obtained by The PUNCH on Thursday.

According to the statement, the Chairman of BUA Group, AbdulSamad Rabiu, disclosed this during a visit to the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, in Lagos.

Rabiu added that the company visited to appreciate the support it has received and brief the authority on the progress of the project. According to him, the expansion has advanced significantly and is critical to supporting the rapid growth of BUA Foods in Port Harcourt.

On the scale of the maritime investment, Rabiu clarified that the port expansion alone is valued at about $85m.

“The port expansion is about $80m in total, and that is going to give us about 600 metres of seaside. We have gone very far, and we thought it’s important for us to brief the management and also ask for additional support, and I am happy that the MD and his team have promised that they will continue to give us all the necessary support,” Rabiu said.

 He said the visit was also to thank the NPA MD and his team for their support and to brief the NPA management on the progress of the expansion of the BUA Ports and Terminals facility in Port Harcourt.

 Rabiu emphasised that BUA Foods is undergoing a major expansion programme and that efficient port infrastructure is essential to sustaining its operations.

 “As you know, BUA Foods is operating in Port Harcourt, and BUA Foods is expanding, and by the time we are done with the expansion, next year, we will be having almost over two million tonnes of products being imported as raw materials to Port Harcourt, and for that we need a terminal, we need a facility,” he stated.

 The BUA chairman noted that the expanded terminal would strengthen the company’s logistics backbone as it grows across food, cement, mining, infrastructure and other industrial segments.

 He stressed that Nigeria’s economic potential can only be fully realised with improved port infrastructure, adding that the country still lags behind major economies in that area.

 “Nigeria, being the biggest economy, Lagos being the biggest economy, yet we don’t have the infrastructure as far as ports infrastructure is concerned,” he said.

 Rabiu commended the NPA management for what he described as its competence and dedication, while also thanking President Bola Tinubu for the appointment of the current leadership.

 Reflecting on the history of the Port Harcourt terminal, Rabiu revealed that the facility had once faced the threat of losing its acquisition rights, but said the current support from the NPA had enabled the project to move forward successfully.

 “I remember that at one point even that terminal acquisition was revoked, but look at us, we are now here, and we are getting all the support that we need from the management,” he added.

 Earlier, the Managing Director of the NPA, Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, projected double-digit growth in cargo throughput and revenue from the $85m expansion of the port and terminal facilities in Port Harcourt.

 He described the investment as a major boost to trade and the development of Nigeria’s eastern ports. Dantsoho said the investment would increase cargo volumes, generate more revenue for the country and strengthen the competitiveness of Nigerian ports.

 Providing an estimate of the expected increase in port activity, Dantsoho added, “On a normal day, 16 per cent is expected anywhere in the world in the port industry. So with this kind of development, I’m sure we can get like 13-14 per cent, which is a very fantastic thing to happen.”

 According to him, the NPA is committed to collaborating with investors to improve port efficiency and unlock greater economic value.