In an effort to bridge inadequate port equipment for vessels, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) is investing in modern cargo-handling equipment, including larger cranes and tugboats capable of serving bigger vessels, with deliveries scheduled for the first half of 2026.
It said the $1 billion reconstruction project of Lagos ports would commence in the next quarter, which may break the multi-decade neglect of the critical infrastructure. The Managing Director of the NPA, Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, said since the construction of Tin Can Island Port 48 years ago and Apapa port 103 years ago, there has been no major attempt to repair, upgrade, or rehabilitate both ports.
Dantsoho lamented at a forum in Lagos that the decades of port infrastructural neglect had left it trailing smaller countries such as Togo, Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, whose seaports have become preferred destinations for shippers, larger vessels and transshipment traffic in West and Central Africa. He noted that due to the infrastructure deficit, Nigeria’s ports currently handled about two million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) yearly, far below those of smaller regional competitors, despite its advantage in trade and population.
According to him, “our competitors in Lome, Cotonou, Abidjan and Tema are only enjoying an advantage because we have not fixed our ports. By every global indicator, Nigeria is the largest economy and the most populous country in Africa, yet today, Abidjan and Lome handle higher volumes than Lagos. This is the gap we must urgently close. “Once infrastructure, equipment, technology, human capacity and sustainability processes are aligned, cargo volumes would naturally gravitate to Nigeria.
The equipment that NPA required to pull these tankers is not there. So, it was a struggle. Locally, for us, we had this concept of a one-stop shop, which also reduced the stress that comes around streamlining the processes.” Dantsoho noted that the Federal Government’s establishment of a one-stop shop for Dangote Refinery operations, which collocates 16 government agencies within the NPA, had already generated over N25 billion in revenue from October 2024 to date.
The managing director stressed that the government was fully committed to supporting reforms, which are expected to restore investor confidence and reverse decades of vessel and cargo diversion from Nigerian ports. Also, the President of the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping, Aminu Umar, explained that the establishment of the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy was meant to consolidate the immense potential of import-export trade in Nigeria, given that shipping and maritime logistics are not only enablers of commerce but central to national prosperity.
He said that the Lekki deep seaport had already demonstrated its potential as a regional hub, supporting international trade volumes and contributing to economic growth. Recall that in 2024, the Managing Director of Citibank Nigeria Limited, Ireti Samuel-Ogbu explained that the bank was committed to supporting NPA and the Federal Government in bridging infrastructure gap.
Samuel-Ogbu said: “We are absolutely delighted to be partnering with NPA especially being the collection bank for foreign and local currency port levies. Now, supporting this strategic initiative through export credit financing to upgrade port infrastructure in Tin-Can and Lagos Ports is commendable.
“However, we are committed in supporting NPA and the Nigerian Government in all its endeavours especially in the infrastructure space. “Since NPA generates its own foreign revenue, we will be able to support foreign facility from our resources because this project is very strategic and an important project for NPA and the country at large. We are looking forward to this project and we thank NPA for giving us this opportunity and hope to bring this into fruition as soon as possible.”
