Northern Nigerian state expects US$475 million invested in cargo zone

NIGERIA's Niger state government is looking to raise N60 billion (US$475.6 million) for an international air cargo free zone at its provincial capital of Minna, reports the Abuja Daily Trust.

Alhaji Abdullahi Umaru Lapai, the man in charge who reports to the state governor, told the newspaper that the central government at the presidential level in Abjuba had approved the creation of a Minna free zone.

Mr Lapai said federal Ministry of Commerce officials and others from the Nigeria Export Promotion Zone Authority (NEPZA) had started a study of the area. He added that the state government had engaged a consultancy to do an environmental impact study.

State governor Muazu Baban-gida Aliyu was behind the project which was in the hands of a "powerful" committee headed by the Secretary to the State for Government (SSG).

When fully operational, the air cargo free zone will have "category one infrastructure" with over 150 direct international flights per month, said Mr Lapai, adding that the project was anchored on the Private-Public Partnership (PPP) initiative.

"The consultants are working very hard to produce the required documents needed by the appropriate authorities for the issuance of the licence for the operation of the free zone, and I am sure that work will commence on site as soon as we get the licence," he said.

Niger State is a province in western Nigeria and the largest state in the country, said Wikipedia. It was formed in 1976 when the then northwestern state was bifurcated into Niger State and Sokoto State. Two of Nigeria's major hydroelectric power stations, the Kainji Dam and the Shiroro Dam, are located in Niger State.