The privatisation of port operations as part of the port reform programme launched in 2006 has brought significant efficiency gains and economic savings to the country’s maritime sector. In December 2022 the Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria estimated that the port concession programme had saved the country a total of $1.6bn, roughly $100m annually between 2006 and 2022.
Nigeria’s maritime commerce capabilities are supported by seven ports: Lekki Port, Tin Can Island Port and Apapa Port in Lagos State; Port Harcourt and Onne Port in Rivers State; Warri Port in Delta State; and Calabar Port in Cross River State. Construction on another, the Badagry Deepsea Port, was approved in October 2022. Once complete, the $2.5bn, 496-ha facility is set to create 250,000 direct jobs.
The strategic operability of the country’s port facilities will be enhanced by the ongoing construction of the 1400-km coastal railway line between Lagos and Calabar, which will connect all of the country’s ports by rail and ease freight movements (see overview).
New Infrastructure
The country’s maritime trade capabilities received a boost with the completion of the $1.5bn Lekki Port in late 2022, located in the Lagos Free Trade Zone. As Nigeria’s first deepwater port, it is equipped to handle 1.2m standard containers annually. Construction, which began in 2018, was executed by Chinese contractor China Harbour Engineering, and the infrastructure will be operated by CMA Terminals, a subsidiary of France’s CMA CGM Group.
Lekki Port was designed to strengthen Nigeria’s maritime transport position in West Africa. The port is equipped with 13 cranes for a capacity of 2.5m twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) on a 1.2-km quay with a depth of 16 metres. It will be able to process large cargo vessels with a capacity of up to 15,000 TEUs, which previously had been diverted to other regional ports. The new facility is likely to help attract traffic destined for the region’s landlocked countries such as Niger, which was negotiating with the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) for the use of Lekki Port to transport goods to and from the country as of March 2023.
The development of multi-modal transport nodes is expected to be crucial for the success of Lekki Port. With a an access road to the facility under construction at the time, in December 2022 the authorities announced plans to link the port to the coastal railway to ensure the steady flow of cargo.
The authorities are also moving to expand the use of river transport as a means to reduce road traffic. In February 2023 the Federal Ministry of Transport, in conjunction with the NPA and the Edo State government, launched a call for bids for the construction of Benin Port, which is set to be developed under a public-private partnership (PPP) on 20 ha of state land on the Benin River in Edo State. The port will allow for the handling of container and general cargo, with an agro-industrial park of 717 ha to be developed adjacent to the port.
Inland Transit
In early 2023 the government inaugurated the Dala Inland Dry Port at Zawachiki, in Kano State. The dry port drew an investment of N2.3bn ($5.5m) and aims to facilitate trade along the northern hinterland and into several landlocked countries in the region. The facility is part of a network of six dry ports to be developed under PPP agreements to augment port operations. Although the contracts for these projects were initially established in the early 2000s, the authorities revived the projects in early 2022. Besides Kano State, dry ports are being developed in Abia State, Oyo State, Plateau State, Borno State and Katsina State.
In 2023 foreign exchange shortages led to a reduction in imports, with trade through ports falling by 30% during the first six weeks of the year. Broadly, however, port performance is set to improve. The federal government allocated N7.7trn ($18.3bn) to maritime transport over the 2021-25 period. A digitalisation process, to be completed throughout all ports in 2025, is expected to improve both the speed and reliability of operations.
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