AfCFTA : Shippers’ Council confident Dala Inland Dry Port will boost economic activities
The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Hon. Emmanuel Jime, has expressed confidence of a boost in economic activities in the Trans-Saharan trade on completion of Dala Inland Dry Port (IDP) in Kano.
The Shippers’ Council boss also believes that the dry port would support the nation’s economic activities with regards to the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement, which has to do with improving intra-continental trade.
Jime who made this known while participating in the 16th National Council on Transportation, which held in Kano, also declared the Dala Inland Dry Port as pace-setter for other dry ports in the country.
He made the declarations while responding to the Dala IDP Chairman’s welcome address during inspection of the on-going construction at the Dala Inland Dry Port site at Zawachiki in Kano State.
He said: “Kano leads the way as far as commercial activities are concerned, as all the states in the northern part of Nigeria regard Kano as the commercial hub.”
He encouraged other state governments to emulate the Kano State Government in the kind of support and partnership it has given with regards to the development of the Dala IDP.
He added that: “The Dala IDP when completed, will serve to decongest the seaports, reduce the cost of doing business and provide an avenue for shippers in the hinterland and neighboring countries like Niger, Chad, and Benin to have their cargoes transported to their doorsteps.”
The Chairman/CEO of the Dala Inland Dry Port, Abubakar Sahabo Bawuro, appreciated the Kano State Government and Nigerian Shippers’ Council for their roles in bringing the IDP project to actualisation.
He further pleaded for the support of the council to fast-track the conferment of the dry port’s status as a Port of Origin and Port of Destination.
He assured that construction at the Dala IDP would be completed by the end of November 2021 and full operation would commence.
As part of its continuous Corporate Social Responsibility to the community, the company is constructing a school on the premises for children of the underserved; a project undertaken at the insistence of the Honourable Transport Minister, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi.
According to the Chairman, the dry port would attract volumes of economic activities to the State, boost the infrastructural development, increase the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), and also increase employment opportunities.
The five-day National Council on Transportation is a triennial event organized by the Federal Ministry of Transportation.
In attendance were the Commissioners and Permanent Secretaries of the Ministries of Transportation in the 36 states of the Federation, multilateral organisations as well as stakeholders in the transport sector.
