FG Pledges Support To SIFAX Group’s New Container Terminal

On Oct 26, 2020

Members of the Federal Ministry of Transportation’s Ministerial Implementation Committee and SIFAX Group management team in a picture pose during the Federal Government’s delegation visit to SIFAX Group’s new container terminal located at Ijora Causeway, Lagos.

Apparently satisfied with the facilities on ground, the Federal Government has promised to support the vision of the newly-opened terminal in Lagos by SIFAX Group .

According to a statement on Monday,SIFAX Container Terminal located at Ijora, Lagos was established to address the challenge of traffic congestion around the Lagos ports.

Its vantage position, which is on the fringes of the port environment, will allow it to receive consignments from both Apapa and Tin Can Island ports through barges, without the complications of traffic congestion that has adversely affected businesses and port activities.

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Capt. Iheanacho Ebubeogu, Project Coordinator/Consultant to SIFAX Container Terminal explaining a point to the Federal Ministry of Transportation’s Ministerial Implementation Committee’s led by Auwal Suleiman, Director, Maritime Services, Federal Ministry of Transportation during their visit to SIFAX Group’s new container terminal located at Ijora Casueway, Lagos

Speaking during the assessment visit of the Ministry of Transportation’s Ministerial Implementation Committee to the new terminal in Lagos, leader of the delegation and Director, Maritime Services, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Auwalu Suleiman, expressed the committee’s satisfaction with the facilities provided and lauded the company for the huge vision it has set for the inland container depot.

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He said: “We are here at the instance of the Minister of Transportation to inspect the terminal and make sure that it conforms to all the relevant requirements stipulated by law in setting up an inland container terminal.

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R-L: Celine Ifeora, Deputy Director, Monitoring and Compliance, Nigeria Shippers’ Council; Paul Linden, Managing Director, SIFAX Container Terminal; Kayode Kolade, Officer in Charge of SIFAX Container Terminal/ Deputy Comptroller, Nigeria Customs Service; Auwal Suleiman, Director, Maritime Services, Federal Ministry of Transportation and Capt. Ibraheem Olugbade, Executive Director, SIFAX Off Dock during the Federal Ministry of Transportation’s Ministerial Implementation Committee’s visit to SIFAX Group’s new container terminal located at Ijora Causeway, Lagos

“So far, we are impressed with the standards you have set in terms of space, equipment, facilities, your vision and future plan.

“It is also our intention to recommend to the government that this terminal should be adopted as a model for all future off docks that would be sited in Nigeria.

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We have compiled all your needs and complaints and they will be forwarded to all the relevant authorities for proper and immediate action”.

Earlier in his welcome address, Dr. Taiwo Afolabi, Group Executive Vice Chairman, SIFAX Group, who was represented by Capt. Ibraheem Olugbade, Executive Director, SIFAX Off Dock, informed the government officials that the terminal’s concept and design are in line with existing SIFAX Group business plan of continuous expansion, proffering solutions, growing improvements in the maritime sector and the logistics value chain, meeting customers’ expectations and complying with government’s regulations.

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Afolabi also appealed for government’s support in achieving the vision of the terminal, especially the dredging of the waterways so barges could access the terminal.

The committee is made up of officials from the Federal Ministry of Transportation, Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and National Inland Waterways (NIWA).