Nigeria Opens Billion-Dollar Seaport
Listen to the story (British accent)
Nigeria has recently opened a new deep seaport in its largest city, Lagos. The billion-dollar seaport is expected to reduce traffic at the country’s other ports. Nigeria also hopes that the port will help the country become a major hub for shipping in Africa.
Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, inaugurated the port on January 24th. Buhari has made building infrastructure an important part of his plans. He hopes that the new port will help his political party win in the election next month.
Many of the seaports in Nigeria were built when the British ruled the country. Because of their age, many of them no longer work or do not operate efficiently. Now, most shipping goes through two ports in Lagos and two other ports near Port Harcourt, Nigeria’s oil capital.
The heavy ship traffic causes delays and problems for imports and exports.
The new Lekki Deep Sea Port is 75% owned by China Harbour Engineering Company and Singapore’s Tolaram Group. It is 25% owned by the government of Lagos state and the Nigerian Ports Authority.
Officials say that the new port cost $1.5bn USD and is one of the largest in West Africa.
The Chinese Ambassador to Nigeria says that the new port could create more than 200,000 jobs.
China is one of the largest lenders to Nigeria and has helped fund rail, road and power station projects.
Vocabulary22 words
- Deep seaport (deep water port)
- A deep water port is different from regular ports because it has deeper water. This is for big ships to use.
- Seaport (port)
- a city or town that has a harbor; a place for ships to load and unload; docks; pier;
- Expect
- to think something will happen; forecast; predict; suppose
- Reduce
- to make less; make smaller; decrease; bring down; shrink
- Traffic
- the movement of cars, trains, people, planes or ships
- Hub
- the central or main part of something, where there is most activity; an important part of something that is busy or active
- Shipping
- the business of transporting things; the business of moving or sending cargo
- Inaugurate
- to put something into use or action; to make a formal beginning of something; initiate; launch
- Infrastructure
- equipment and structures for a city or society (roads, railroads, bridges, power plants, etc.)
- Party (political party)
- an organization of people with the same political views; a group of people who work together to get political power
- Election
- a process or event in which people vote to choose a leader or winner
- Rule
- to have power over; to control; to be in control of
- Operate
- to control or use a machine; to manage; run; use;
- Efficiently
- working or operating in an organized, quick, and effective way
- Capital
- the most important place for a particular business or activity (Paris is the fashion capital of Europe)
- Cause
- make something (usually bad) happen; create
- Import-export
- the business of bringing goods into and sending them out of a country; the business activity of selling goods between countries
- Port Authority
- a government organization that controls and manages the activities in a port
- Official
- a person who works for the government and has power or authority; officer; executive
- Ambassador
- an official representative for his or her country, that lives in a foreign country; envoy; diplomat
- Lender
- a person or business that loans/lends money
- Fund
- to provide the money to pay for an event, activity or thing; pay for; finance; support
Discussion questions
- How does Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari hope the new port will impact the upcoming election? In your opinion, is building infrastructure a good way to get votes?
- Who are the major stakeholders in the new Lekki Deep Sea Port? What are the pros and cons of having foreign investors for government facilities and projects?
- How might the new port change the local area, the country or even the region?
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