Jorothom takes over nacfa, commence operations …As Skye bank emerges coy. chairman

About two years after it won the bid for the National Clearing and Forwarding Agency (NACFA) Jorothom International Agency winner of the bid for the National Clearing has finally taken over the terminals of the company just as it announced commencement of container handling operations.
Formerly known as Government Coastal Agency, NACFA was established in 1954 as a wholly owned government agency in charge of clearance of government cargoes. It was sold in 2006 to Jorothom for =N=3.6Billion
Speaking at the commissioning ceremony which held recently in Lagos, the chairman of the new NACFA Mr Kehinde Durosinmi Etti lamented the state of the company’s facilities. According to him, the assets of the agency were dilapidated and run down, adding that a lot of work had to be done to bring its facilities to an appreciable level.
He assured that NACFA under the new management will run the company with full consciousness of the objective of concession programme of government, noting that it would partner with government agencies particularly the Nigeria Customs Service.
Mr Durosinmi Etti acknowledged that putting the structures and facilities in place has been a painful and slow process, but fruitful.
The chairman who also doubles as the deputy managing director of Skye bank also said that now that the facilities are ready, the agency will be run efficiently in a cost effective manner.
Speaking earlier, the managing director of the agency, Mr Rotimi Omotosho noted that many banks do not realize that the maritime industry is one of the most viable sectors of the economy and commended Skye bank for its initiative to partner with Jorothom in the acquisition of NACFA.
“Before your involvement in financing projects in the maritime industry, many banks did not realize that the industry is one of the viable sectors of the economy”, he stressed.
Commending Skye bank for the efforts, the company’s managing director added “indeed, you are an eye opener and a pacesetter in the banking industry as far as project financing is concerned in the maritime sector.
“We are bold to say that we have restructured, re-engineered and repositioned NACAF for full efficient and effective operation in terms of the materials, capital and human resources we have put in place”.