Nigeria Needs More Deep Seaports To Meet Rising Cargo Demand – Dantsoho

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, has called for increased investment in deep seaport development across Nigeria and West Africa to meet rising cargo volumes driven by population growth and expanding economic activities.

Dantsoho, who made the call at the ongoing World Ports Conference in London, said Nigeria urgently needed additional port capacity to accommodate growing import and export volumes, disclosing that the capacity of the Lekki Deep Sea Port had been exhausted barely three years after its commissioning.

He urged global maritime investors to take advantage of the enormous investment opportunities in Nigeria’s port sector, citing the country’s growing population, rapid urbanisation and infrastructure deficit as compelling reasons for increased private-sector participation.

The NPA boss also highlighted the investment-friendly policies of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, saying the government had created an enabling environment to attract and retain private capital in the maritime industry.

Addressing a select team of maritime investors from across the world, Dantsoho maintained that government alone could not finance the development of bigger and deeper seaports, given the huge capital requirements involved.

He said private investment was critical to bridging infrastructure gaps, expanding cargo-handling capacity and positioning African ports to benefit from increasing international trade.

Dantsoho, who is Vice-President of the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH) and Chairman of the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA), said Nigeria’s population had grown from 45 million at independence in 1960 to more than 260 million, creating enormous pressure on existing port infrastructure.

He said, “Nigeria at independence in 1960 had a population of 45 million people. Today, about 60 years later, there are more than 260 million people. The investment needed in ports to meet this expansion and growth can only happen if the requisite private investment is attracted and retained, which is what President Tinubu has created the enabling atmosphere for.

“In Nigeria, we identified that infrastructure gap, especially in our ports’ development, and we realised that we must do something quickly, both in terms of the capacity to receive bigger vessels for import and also the capacity to move higher numbers of cargo for export.

“Also, again, it is important to note that the development or growth or expansion in the area of infrastructure is capital-intensive. So, the governments in both West Africa and generally in Africa have realised that the government cannot fund development of bigger or deeper seaports, hence the need for your investment to move speedily into Africa.”

He identified the Lekki Deep Sea Port in Lagos as an example of the growing demand for modern port infrastructure, noting that the $1.6 billion facility, commissioned about three years ago, had already exhausted its capacity.

According to him, the development underscores the urgency of expanding Nigeria’s port infrastructure to accommodate increasing cargo traffic and sustain the country’s growing contribution to regional trade.

Dantsoho said, “Nigeria has the highest population in Africa. So, the speed of growth is something that really should concern us. For example, in Nigeria, only recently, about three years ago, we commissioned the first deep sea port in Nigeria, which is called Lekki Deep Sea Port, that was funded by the Chinese government in relationship with China Harbour, and the expenditure cost us $1.6 billion to build Lekki in Lagos.

“But as of today, just about three years later, the capacity of the new deep-sea port, that is Lekki, has been exhausted. So, which means that clearly, we need more capacity to be able to contain the volumes.

“And for us as Port Authority, we are happy that we are capturing more of the cargo, the volumes are going up, because that is the only way that we can also increase our value, the revenue that we expect to make from these transactions.”

He explained that the demand for port infrastructure was not peculiar to Nigeria but extended across West Africa, where countries were experiencing increasing trade activities and seeking to improve their capacity to handle cargo.

He listed Benin Republic, Togo, Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire among countries with growing maritime activities, adding that Nigeria remained the largest market in the sub-region because of its population and consumption capacity.

According to him, Ghana has a population of about 34 million, Côte d’Ivoire 32 million, Togo nine million and Benin Republic 14 million, compared with Nigeria’s more than 260 million people.

He noted that most cargoes entering the West African sub-region, particularly those originating from China, ultimately found their way into the Nigerian market because of the country’s huge consumer base.

The NPA managing director urged investors to explore opportunities across the region, stressing that investment in deeper seaports, modern facilities and expanded cargo-handling infrastructure would support trade growth, improve export capacity and strengthen the competitiveness of African economies.

He reaffirmed the Federal Government’s commitment to creating an enabling environment for private-sector investment in the maritime industry, noting that collaboration between governments and investors remained essential to meeting the region’s growing port infrastructure needs.