The Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of the Dala Inland Dry Port, Abubakar Sahabo Bawuro, has said when the rail line from Lagos to Kano that will link the Dala Dry Port is completed, the cost of shipping goods to Kano and other parts of the north will drop by at least 50 per cent.
This will impact the cost of goods in Kano and other parts of the North and West African countries the Kano dry port will serve, he said.
He also said the facility, together with the Kano Economic City, will establish Kano as a commercial nerve centre in the North and neighbouring West African Countries. Mr Bawuro stated this when he paid a courtesy call alongside the Governor of Kano, Abdullahi Ganduje, to the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Richard Adeniyi Adebayo.
He said the facility which will soon come on stream will enable Kano importers and others to import goods to Kano as the final destination.
“It’s a dry port but it’s just like every other port. Goods will be cleared and exported there. It’s located in the hinterland and a commercial hub. Every effort that is done to enhance the position of Kano state as a commercial centre is being done by the current Governor of Kano State,” he said.
The Minister, Otunba Adebayo, pledged his support and said the federal government will do everything within its power to support Dala Dry Port and indeed the Kano State government.
“I have received a briefing on the Dala Dry Port and I expressed interest in it. I commend the Kano State government for supporting the project to fruition. Kano is taking its rightful position in the economy of the country. The Dala Dry Port will be beneficial to the north and indeed the entire country,” he noted.
Earlier, the Governor of Kano, Abdullahi Ganduje, thanked the minister for his support to the state, particularly the training of small- and medium-scale industries in the state.