Westminster Group secures second long-term contract win in Africa in a week
(WSG ) said it has been awarded a long-term managed service contract to exclusively provide port screening services at Monrovia Freeport in Liberia, West Africa.
Westminster, which supplies managed services and technology-based security solutions worldwide, said a contract was awarded to a consortium led by Medtech Scientific from the United Arab Emirates, who in turn has entered into a contract with Westminster Group to provide port screening services for an initial period of ten years, commencing 1 July 2021.
The search for a supplier for the contract forms part of the Liberian Government’s efforts to expand its in-country policy of boosting trade and easing the export and import of goods.
As part of its efforts to implement this policy, and following its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), the Liberian Government said it has been looking for ‘a competent and experienced group’ to build capacity under a long-term Build-Operate-Transfer ("BOT") arrangement by investing in and upgrading various services at Monrovia Freeport.
"I know the Liberian authorities are very keen on capacity building, education and skills enhancement and I believe the services we offer, not just our technical expertise but our training and support services together with our community support programmes via the Westminster Group Foundation, will greatly benefit the country,” said CEO, Peter Fowler.
The contract based on Westminster's proven BOT managed services model with revenues generated from all import containers passing through the Port, whether screened or not, is expected to generate around $1.1 million in revenues in the first 12 months of operation.
Under the Contract, which may be extended by agreement of the parties, Westminster will provide the screening systems, warehousing and infrastructure to undertake screening and intrusive search of selected import containers, maintain and operate the systems and provide comprehensive training services to customs and other staff during the term of the agreement.
In recent days, shares in Westminster Group have gained over 50% in value following the announcement of two long-term managed services contracts. Shares in the company were 2.94% higher during late morning trading at 5.95p following the announcement.
Westminster will have a presence in the country from 1 July 2021 organising set up and logistics and will begin manual inspections and screening services in September 2021. The entire deployment phase of the project is expected to be completed within 18 months.
Initial deployment expenses incurred pursuant to the Contract will be satisfied from existing resources, however as Westminster noted yesterday, with a pipeline of multiple other potential contracts, it continues to monitor funding requirements and options to ensure it has adequate financing in place to deal with the anticipated expansion of services, it noted.
On Tuesday, the Company announced that it had been awarded a multi-million USD per annum managed services contract, for an initial period of 20 years, to provide security services to 5 airports in the Democratic Republic of the Congo ('DRC'), Central Africa.
Commenting on the contract award, Fowler told investors: "Following our announcement yesterday of a 20+ year multi-million USD managed services contract for airport security, I am delighted to be able to announce yet another long-term port security managed services contract, particularly in West Africa where we already have a strong presence, and I am equally pleased this new contract opens up another new country for our operations.”
"This latest new contract win further demonstrates Westminster's global reach and our ability to secure business in new territories and is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our business development teams around the world who have been working hard through the challenging conditions and travel restrictions created by the global pandemic,” he said.
Fowler added that the company has delivered on one of its previously outlined key goals for 2021 which was to secure at least one more large-scale managed services contract. He said that for the company to have secured two such contracts in two days “is most encouraging."
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