THE IMPACT OF PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION IN THE OPERATIONS OF NIGERIAN PORTS AUTHORITY WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF NIGERIA’S PPP LEGAL FRAMEWORK

Abstract

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has always prided itself as the gateway to Nigeria’s economy. Conscious of its role to the national economy, it has over the years embarked on system reforms that progressively saw to private sector investments in its terminals, equipment and services. It utilized management contracts, joint venture partnerships, concession arrangements and amortization programmes, among diverse private sector participation models, for a more effective and efficient port operations. The glaring hypothesis is that in spite of these efforts, cargo handling has remained outrageously expensive with its corresponding spiral effect on the cost of goods to ultimate consumers. The fundamental issue, which this paper seeks to identify, is the impact or otherwise of the port reforms to the immediate and remote port’s stakeholders. Using the doctrinal method of research, the paper utilized primary and secondary sources that includes information from journals, conference papers, newspaper articles and internet searches to trace the evolution of port reforms, identify the different methods of private sector investment in ports infrastructure and services, and consider the impact of the reforms to the overall efficiency and effectiveness of the port system. The paper found that the impact of the port reform was a mixed bag as the cost of cargo handling is outrageously expensive to make cost of goods unaffordable to ultimate consumers. It therefore recommended that PPP risk assessments and analyses should be more comprehensive to include transport value chain and macroeconomic forecasts; the legal framework should be amended to accommodate more innovative PPP models; the institutional framework should have the capacity to insulate transactions from political interference and official corruption; and that Federal agencies operating in the ports should be streamlined while critical ports activities should be automated to a single window so as to reduce human interventions. These recommendations, if implemented, could achieve the national aspiration of creating a preferred maritime hub in Nigeria’s ports.