Nigeria’s largest container terminal, APM Terminals Apapa has invested USD438 million (about N180 billion) in the upgrade of its facility, acquisition of modern cargo handling equipment and support of seamless service since it won concession of the terminal in 2006. The investment is the highest of any port terminal operator in Nigeria.

The Terminal Manager of APM Terminals Apapa, Steen Knudsen, said the terminal is on an exciting journey of major transformation to deliver greater, sustainable benefits to the Nigerian economy and society.

“Since inception, we have invested around USD438 million purely in the handling equipment we have in the terminal. We have acquired mobile harbour cranes, rubber tyred gantry cranes, reach stackers, forklifts, terminal trucks, empty handlers and invested in yard improvements,” said Knudsen.

Workforce Development

“Of equal importance is the ongoing investment in the development of our workforce, ensuring that we continuously develop our staff. This covers trainings, career progression and, of course, expanding the business and creating new jobs.

“At the moment we are also focusing on investing in our facilities: renovating our buildings, upgrading in-gate and out-gate facilities and terminal fencing and lighting. We have also equipped the parking area access with a facial recognition system and expanded our terminal fleet with new shuttle buses and pickup trucks.”

Other investments at the terminal are aimed at simplifying and enhancing trade. For a long time shipping has been a very manual and paper-heavy process. The terminal is adopting global best practices for digitalized products, such as advanced online container tracking and monitoring, container email notifications and online billing and payments, in order to ensure that importers and exporters enjoy a seamless service from the terminal.

APM Terminals Apapa also recently launched a massive digitization of its operations and services through the deployment of a 4G LTE wireless network, and a new Operation Command Centre to enhance quality service delivery. Wireless connectivity supports APM Terminals’ global initiatives such as the standardisation of Terminal Operating Systems, reporting and support; Asset Digitalization; and GPS based Position Detection Systems used for auto-locating containers in a yard.

Handling Increased Volumes

“We remain committed to deepening our investment in Apapa to enable us handle increasing volumes at the port. Our investments will create capacity to handle growth in the economy to support the Federal Government’s efforts on trade growth and improve service delivery across the logistics chain,” concluded Knudsen.