An ambitious West African fisheries project has signed an Indian planning consultancy on a USD 500,000 (EUR 455,400) contract to market the project for international investors.
The Adoni Fishing Port and Processing Zone Ltd in Nigeria has hired Sensing Local, a Bengaluru-based firm with a track record in urbanization projects, to come up with a business case for the port, which is located in Port Harcourt and aims to be a hub for both Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.
The project is zoned as a special economic zone (EPZ) according to Emeka Chukwu, CEO of the Adoni Fishing Port, who is looking for foreign investors to make the project happen. The 2,500 hectare site, incorporating a fishing port, seafood processing facilities, warehousing zones, and ship maintenance yards, will cost between USD 1.5 billion and USD 2.5 billion (EUR 1.36 billion and EUR 2.28 billion), according to Emeka Chukwu. He believes the project will be particularly attractive for Chinese fishing firms as a single platform for operations in the West and Central Africa Gulf of Guinea.
Chukwu said the Gulf of Guinea is “one of the richest fishing grounds in the world” and home to 1,000 species. He cites a report suggesting that 360,000 jobs could be created in Africa through commercial fishing if the problem of illegal fishing is appropriately dealt with.
Fuzhou Hong Dong Yuan Yang Fishing Co. operates what it claims is China’s largest overseas fishery base in Mauritania. The firm recently said it is shipping 2,500 tons of seafood per week from the base to customers in the European Union and United States.
“Any company that we will partner with as our preferred investor in this project must abide by the high environmental and sustainable management standard that will be the benchmark for the project,” Emeka said. “The environmental and sustainability standard for the project is high and is non-negotiable."
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