The President of the African Development Bank (AfFB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has pointedly told the Federal Government to seriously consider the total transformation of the Nigeria Seaports instead of struggling to decongest the crowded ports.
Adesina who spoke on Monday at the Mid-Term Ministerial Performance Review Retreat holding at the State House, Abuja, argued that Nigeria in the year 2021 should not be wasting her time seeking how to decongest her Seaports but how to transform their operations.
Said he: “We (Nigeria) should not be decongesting the Seaports, we should be transforming the Seaports “.
The AfDB President advised the Nigerian government to borrow a leaf from other African countries like Morocco that has world-class Seaports especially the Tangiers Seaport in the coastal region of Morocco.
According to him, he was swept off his feet of the smooth and flawless operations he witnessed when he undertook the tour of Tangiers Seaport in Morocco, pointing out that the North African nation is using technology to drive her Seaports.
“When I undertook the tour of Tangiers Seaport in Morocco, I impressed with what I saw on the ground. When I first arrived at Tangiers Seaport I thought they were on national holiday but I later discovered that machines, technology have taken the work of humans. Nigeria should learn from Morocco”, Adesina said.
Prompt News reports that other Speakers at the event who will later take the podium are Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Director-General, World Trade Organisation; Ambassador Yonov Fred Agah, PhD, Director General/Chief Trade Negotiator, Nigerian Office for Trade Negotiations; and Dr Chris Pycroft, Director (Development), Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office.
