Nigeria, once West Africa’s dominant logistics hub, is losing ground to regional rivals like Togo, as poor infrastructure, high costs, and policy failures erode its trade competitiveness. While others modernise, Nigeria risks falling further behind, despite reforms, rising cargo throughput, and new port investments, ANOZIE EGOLE reports
Nigeria previously occupied a pivotal position in West African trade, capitalising on its geographic advantage, substantial population, and its role as an economic anchor. However, recent data reveals this advantage is fading.
Reports last week state that the United States of America and Russia seek to secure access to the Port of Lomé in Togo, which seems to have emerged as a key maritime hub in West Africa. This is despite ongoing reforms and efforts by the Federal Government to construct new ports and rehabilitate existing ones. Findings have also shown that the increase in volume of trade between Asia and West Africa has seen Lomé port transform into a key regional container port. This is even as major ocean carriers, specifically MSC, have responded by redeploying ultra-large container vessels to the route. This has come as a major boost for liner connectivity of West African ports, including Lomé. Given these trade advantages, the U.S. has pledged to expand its African market access through the Lomé Port.
Recently, the U.S. Embassy in Lomé, led by the Chargé d’Affaires, Richard C. Michaels, conducted a tour of the port facility. The delegation also held a meeting with the management of Lomé Container Terminal to explore commercial opportunities for U.S. businesses.
“With advanced deep-water capabilities, cutting-edge equipment, and an annual throughput exceeding 30 million tonnes, Lomé offers U.S. businesses unmatched access to African markets. Ongoing infrastructure expansion, including a dry port and industrial zone, further enhances the port’s role as a growing gateway,” commented the U.S. Embassy in Togo. The port tour followed shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump met five African leaders in Washington.
The African leaders were largely from countries in West Africa, including Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mauritania, and Senegal.
The meeting with Trump concentrated on trade opportunities for both sides, at a time when the U.S. government was cutting aid in Africa and other regions.
Meanwhile, Russia has ratified its military cooperation agreement with Togo, which was initially signed early this year.
As per the agreement, Russia and Togo will jointly hold military exercises, training exchanges, and weapons and military equipment support.
Notably, the agreement also covers support in hydrography, navigation, and combating piracy.
According to some observers, the pact will give Russia unfettered access to Togo’s strategic seaport of Lomé. The cooperation covers visits by Russian military ships to ports in Togo.
“Togo is considered the most organised and equipped in tropical Africa. For example, the busiest seaport in West Africa is located on its territory,” said Vladimir Gruzdev, a member of the Russian Government Commission on Legislative Activity that drafted the ratification law of the defence.
The country now ranks poorly in global logistics performance and can’t compete effectively with regional rivals. In the World Bank’s 2023 Logistics Performance Index, Nigeria ranked 88th out of 140 countries, only marginally improved from 91st in 2022. Despite this modest rise, the score of around 2.6 out of five puts Nigeria behind smaller economies like Ghana, Togo, Benin (66th), and even landlocked Rwanda.
A detailed breakdown shows Nigeria scoring just 2.4 in infrastructure, 2.4 in customs efficiency, 2.5 in international shipments, 2.3 in logistics service quality, 2.7 in tracking & tracing, and 3.1 in timeliness, each significantly trailing regional leaders like South Africa (3.6+, 3.3+) and Egypt (3.0+, 2.8+).
Analysts warned that real performance may place Nigeria as low as 95th in West Africa due to chronic infrastructure and institutional weaknesses. Cargo dwell times in Nigeria are alarmingly high. A study comparing Nigerian seaports to global benchmarks shows Nigeria averaging 13.76 days, a 244% increase over global norms.
Furthermore, Lagos ports rank 311th out of 370 on the World Bank’s Container Port Performance Index, underscoring inefficiencies in cargo handling despite executing over 80 per cent of Nigeria’s trade volume. The average vessel turnaround remains around 18–20 days, much slower than modern ports, indicating an urgent reform gap.
According to the Nigerian Ports Authority’s 2024 management report, cargo throughput rose by 45.1 per cent, from 71.2 million metric tonnes in 2023 to 103.3 million in 2024. Ship calls increased 5.6 per cent (3,791 to 4,005), and gross registered tonnage grew 15.4 per cent (123.7 M to 142.7 M GRT). Total container throughput reached 1,744,972 TEUs in 2024, up 9.7 per cent from 1.59M in 2023.
Export-laden TEUs were up 53.7 per cent; transshipment containers soared 136.5 per cent.
Challenges
Nigeria remains over-reliant on road transport (≈95%), yet roads are poorly maintained, over-congested, and unsafe, raising costs and disrupting cargo flow.
Last week, during an executive course on the Blue Economy for Media Practitioners organised by the Nigerian Navy’s International Maritime Institute of Nigeria held in Apapa, the President of the Nigerian Maritime Law Association, Mrs Funke Agbor, a senior advocate of Nigeria, fingered poor policy implementation as part of the problems the nation’s maritime sector is facing.
She described the recently concluded National Policy on Blue Economy as a beautiful document but warned that implementation has always been Nigeria’s problem.
“Nigeria is a beautiful coastal country that is taking for granted the opportunities for maritime tourism, transportation, and other benefits derivable from the oceans. We can’t afford to be discouraged because we don’t have clean and safe water. Other countries are landlocked, but we are privileged to have waters,” Agbor said.
A few months ago, The PUNCH reported that the Shipping Association of Nigeria had raised the alarm over the loss of cargo to the ports of neighbouring countries due to the high cost of cargo operations in Nigeria.
The Chairman of SAN, Boma Alabi, noted that most cargo shipped to neighbouring countries eventually ended up in Nigerian markets.
She explained that this practice not only results in the loss of cargo but also leads to missed opportunities across the cargo clearance value chain, including jobs, revenue, and other economic benefits.
Alabi also expressed concerns over the proposed addition of four Free On-Board charges to the cost of clearing cargo at Nigerian ports, warning that such a move would further hinder trade and economic growth.
“Indirect taxation that customers have to pay is making the Nigerian business environment unfriendly to business and investment. Nigerian ports have become uncompetitive because of the several charges customers are made to pay at the port as compared to neighbouring ports like Cotonou and Lome, which collect relatively low charges,” Alabi said.
Citing the example of Terminal 3 at Tema Port, which is a dedicated container terminal that operates three berths and is capable of receiving ships of 366 m LOA and 16 metres draught in Ghana, she said Tema Port does 1.9 m TEUs, while Nigeria does 1.2 m TEUs per year, according to a report by NPS Meridian Port Services Limited in 2024.
Drivers face illegal tolls, bribes, and theft; containers sometimes fall off trucks due to poor road access and infrastructure.
Neighbouring countries are closing in and overtaking. Ports like Tanger Med (Morocco) now offer dwell times of just three days, thanks to full process automation, smart port systems, and integrated digital platforms, which Nigeria still seeks.
Countries such as Ghana, Benin, Togo, Cameroon, and landlocked Rwanda and Uganda rank higher in LPI due to streamlined customs, regulatory reform, and modern logistics infrastructure. Nigeria is losing cargo to regional hubs, as shippers increasingly route goods to Ghana or the Ivory Coast, citing poor service at Lagos ports, cost, and delays.
Experts speak
A maritime research group under the auspices of the Sea Empowerment Research Centre has stated that Nigeria could lose an estimated N130bn annually in customs duties, value-added taxes on imports, and other taxes due to reduced port activity caused by losing its logistics hub status.
SEREC, in a statement over the weekend signed by its Head of Research, Mr Eugene Nweke, sent to The PUNCH, added that the government might experience decreased revenue due to reduced port activity, which could impact funding for infrastructure development and essential services.
“Nigeria could lose an estimated N130bn annually in customs duties, VAT on imports, and other taxes due to reduced port activity. This could lead to a 10 per cent to 20 per cent decrease in government revenue, potentially amounting to N300bn to N600bn,” Nweke said.
According to Nweke, Nigeria may lose investment opportunities worth billions of naira as businesses opt for more efficient ports in neighbouring countries.
“Assuming a 20 per cent decline in foreign investment in the logistics sector, Nigeria could lose around N500bn to N1tn in potential investments. Combining the potential loss of investment and decreased government revenue, Nigeria could face a total loss of around N800bn to N1.6tn,” he said.
He, however, emphasised that the recent reports of Nigeria losing its position as West Africa’s logistics hub are a wake-up call for the government and industry stakeholders.
Nweke maintained that the implications of this development are far-reaching, and it is essential to take immediate action to address the challenges and implement potential solutions.
A former president of the Shippers Association of Lagos State, Nicol Jonathan, admitted that the situation has always been like that and added that they have also started using Senegal.
“MSC has started the movement of cargo to that side. If you load containers from here now, they have to go to Lomé for transshipment to whatever country you want to go to. It’s not today’s thing; it has been there for several years. It has been like that for several years. When we say goods are being diverted, they move the goods to places like Lomé in Togo, Cotonou, and Ghana. Now they are using Senegal. Yes, because you see the maritime trade does not have any. The water flows there unimpeded, without stress. So, all you need to do is put your vessel there and let it flow to whatever port you want,” he said.
Nicol blamed these challenges on numerous bottlenecks imposed on imports in Nigeria.
“When we put too many restrictions on imports and even exports, of course, you look for a cheaper place to do your business. It is because of bottlenecks and the cost of doing business, which is a mantra in this country. Yet things are getting out of hand. It’s very expensive to clear goods in Nigeria based on your exchange rate,” he said.
The Chairman of the Apapa Chapter of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents, Mr Abayomi Duyile, said, “It means they are not happy with what Nigeria is doing in the area of cargo clearance.”
The PUNCH reported last week that experts in the marine and blue economy sector lamented that Nigeria’s lagoons and beaches are recipients of the highest marine waste dumpsite in the world.
They lamented that Nigeria’s coastal waters, once hubs of commercial ferry activities and vibrant fishing economies, are now neglected, with many inland waterways abandoned or polluted and ferry services diminished.
This was disclosed recently at an Executive Course on the Blue Economy for Media Practitioners organised by the Nigerian Navy’s International Maritime Institute of Nigeria, held at the institute in Apapa.
The Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Maritime Security Practitioners Association of Nigeria, Rear Admiral Francis Dan Akpan (Retd), in his lecture titled ‘Introduction to the Blue Economy’, stated that while other nations are advancing with maritime developments and unlocking their ocean resources, boosting marine tourism to develop their Gross Domestic Product, Nigeria continues in rhetoric of unlocking potentials with its waters characterised by pollution and waste.
He lamented the country’s environmental mismanagement and lack of structured action plans to harness these assets sustainably.
Recommendations
Stakeholders are hoping that the proposed Bakassi Deep Seaport, backed by Afreximbank to the tune of $3.5bn, could further relieve congestion and diversify strategic port locations, especially for agricultural export logistics.
Nweke, who is also a former National President of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, advised that to mitigate these losses, Nigeria should consider implementing potential solutions, such as implementing digital solutions like single-window trade platforms to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
“Developing a national logistics policy backed by infrastructure reform to streamline logistics operations and improve competitiveness. Investing in rail-port connectivity, secure dry ports, and special logistics zones to improve the efficiency and security of logistics operations,” Nweke stressed.
He urged the government to address the challenges of congestion and delays in Apapa and Tincan ports to improve efficiency and reduce costs.
Nweke underscored the importance of digitalising ports and embracing single-window trade platforms, adding that it would help improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance the overall logistics experience.
He pointed out that a national logistics policy backed by infrastructure reform is essential to streamlining logistics operations, reducing costs, and improving competitiveness.
“We urge the government to take immediate action to address the challenges and implement potential solutions. We must take immediate action to address the challenges and implement potential solutions. By working together, we can improve Nigeria’s logistics competitiveness, increase economic activity, and enhance its regional trade position,” he said.
Conclusion
Nigeria stands at a pivotal moment. Its historical position as West Africa’s logistics hub is under threat, with data suggesting loss of market share, regional competitiveness, and billions in annual revenue. Though new infrastructure projects like Lekki, Snake Island, and Bakassi offer hope, the gains remain uneven without structural reform. To reclaim hub status, Nigeria must pair investments with deep institutional transformation, digital customs, multimodal connectivity, corruption controls, and streamlined regulation. With the African Continental Free Trade Area opening broader markets, the opportunity is urgent. The path forward demands ambition, coordination, and political will. In the end, logistics leadership is not built solely on geography but on efficiency, transparency, connectivity, and foresight.
