12 Steps - Transportation: Nigerian Waterways

Nigeria has the second longest length of waterways in Africa. It has 8,600 kilometres of inland waterways and an extensive coastland of about 852 kilometres. 

Nigeria’s waterways centre on its longest rivers, Rivers Niger and Benue, which dissect the country into east, west, and north sections. The two rivers run into each other at Lokoja and flow into the Atlantic Ocean. The coastal waterways extend from Badagry through Warri to Calabar.

Most of the activity on the country’s waterways, especially by larger powered boats and for commerce, is in the Niger Delta and all along the coast from Lagos Lagoon to Cross River.

However water transport scores a distant second to road transport, with an average share of about 1.6 per cent of Nigeria’s gross domestic product.  Water transport is slow and while unsuitable for passenger movement, an efficient coastal and inland waterway system can relieve pressure on a country’s rail and road transport infrastructure. 

Inland water transport is advantageous in terms of costs of moving heavy traffic, especially where speed is less important than cost. A single 15-barge tow is equivalent to about 225 railroad cars or 870 tractor-trailer trucks. 

This would be advantageous in the transportation of tonnes of agricultural products from the middle belt areas to the delta areas through the waterways and verse versa, and hopefully bring about a fall in food prices in the regions. 

This mode of transport will equally play an important role in the importation of raw materials through the ports in the delta areas for use at the Ajaokuta Steel Complex, which is a major industrial centre on the Niger, will benefit from the importation and use the same route to export its products.

The Nigerian inland waterways despite its great potentials are underutilised and underdeveloped. The Federal Government hopes to reverse this and has recently signed N34.8bn contract for the dredging of the Lower Niger. The project covers about 572 kilometres of waterway that stretches from Warri in Delta State to Baro in Niger State. The project is expected to be concluded by 2010.

To maximise the potential of the inland waterways, the Federal Government also plans to restructure the Inland Waterways Authority so it can focus on regulatory duties and concession its other activities.

Under the current plans, the Inland Waterways Authority will be responsible for:

• Issuance and control of licenses for inland navigation, piers, jetties and dockyards;

• Granting of licenses to private inland water crafts;

• Approval of designs and construction of inland river crafts.

The restructured Inland Waterways Authority will look to the private sector to assist it in revitalising the inland waterways. One way this can be achieved is through the formation of a Nigerian Inlands Waterways Fund.

Nigerian Inlands Waterways Fund

The fund will be similar to the US’s Inland Waterways Trust Fund, which funds half the cost of new construction and major rehabilitation of the inland waterways infrastructure. The Fund will be registered as a company limited by guarantee and operate independently of the Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority. 

The Fund will be administered and managed by a Board of Trustees representing various interests in the private and public sector and will be completely isolated from the management of the Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority.

The Fund will be required to release quarterly reports on the how much of its funds are being spent and how is being spent on any of the operations is it financing.

The Fund will be financed by 

• Grants from governments, organised private sector and international donors.

• Concessions of jetties and dockyards owned by the Nigerian Inland Waterways Authority. 

• Sale of vessels and other non-operational assets of the Inland Waterways Authority.

• A fuel tax paid directly to the Fund by commercial operators along designated inland waterways.

• Returns on investments made in the capital and money markets.

 The Fund will be used to finance:

• Developing and maintaining the inland waterway infrastructure.

• Property development in riverside towns and construction of road and rail links to existing and new river ports and inland depots in conjunction with the Nigerian Highways Authority and the Railways Infrastructure Company.

• A Vessel Tracking System for the inland waterways.

• Provision of communication and navigational aids along the various routes of the inland waterways.

Developing and Maintaining Inland Waterway Infrastructure

The contract signed by the Federal Government to dredge the River Niger, included a clause for the construction companies for maintain the dredged waterway for two years. After that, financing from the Nigerian Inland Waterways Fund will be used to maintain the waterway. Any contract awarded in this respect will be of the output based performance variety, where contractors are paid on the performance on reaching set goals rather than given a lump sum to complete the job.

Navigation improvement feasibility studies financed by the Nigerian Inland Waterways Fund will be carried out throughout the inland waterway system. These studies will be used to identify the navigation and natural environmental actions needed to support the inland waterway system.

The Fund will then finance the dredging of other major rivers, the constructions of canals and other essential infrastructure such as locks and dams which have been identified by the studies as necessary to open up new water transportation channels and make the Nigerian waterways infrastructure as valuable to the economy as the roads network. 

Property Development and Regeneration

Working closely with the Nigerian Highways Authority and the Railways Infrastructure Company, the Inland Waterways Authority will carry out feasibility studies on the construction of highways and rail tracks to the towns which play host to major river ports if these infrastructures do not already exist. The Nigerian Inland Waterways Fund will then finance possible road and rail track constructions alongside the National Highways Fund and the National Railway Fund respectively.

This would help to speed the development of such towns and cities which will play a vital role in the Nigerian transportation system. The Nigerian Inland Waterways Fund, working alongside private financiers and developers will also aid community regeneration in these riverside towns and cities by financing property development projects which will include a range of homes, offices, shops and community facilities set in the stunning background that Nigerian rivers have to offer.

Inland Waterways Vessel Tracking System

A vessel tracking system that automatically and accurately monitors vessel movements along the Nigerian inland waterways will be deployed with financing from the Nigerian Inland Waterways Fund.

 The system would be deployed to:

• Increase safety along the waterways by reducing the search time in search and rescue operations.

• Increase security as the positions of most vessels in the inland waterways will be accurately tracked and monitored by the system.

• Help in identifying a vessel and pinpoint its location accurately.

• Guiding river pilots through navigable channels and avoiding probable collisions. 

• Organising shore service facilities more efficiently by collating different shore control points through computers to maximise efficiency and profitability.

• Introduce night navigation facilities in the waterways by installing virtual buoys in the vessels' monitors and thus to improve the average turnaround time of the vessels.