Maersk invests in Nigeria seaports upgrade

The Nigerian government is investing US$1bn to reconstruct the country’s seaports to allow docking for larger ships, meaning firms such as Maersk do not have to risk transshipments to deliver to Nigeria.

“More investment opportunities are available, and my government has worked on various reforms to encourage investments. We need to encourage more opportunities for revenue expansion and minimize transshipments from larger ships to smaller ships,” said President Bola Tinubu.

This latest investment follows Maersk’s support in developing a container terminal in Ogun and takes the total amount pledged by Maersk to US$2bn.

“We have seen a significant opportunity for Nigeria to cater for larger container ships,” said AP Moller-Maersk chair, Robert Maersk Uggla.

“Historically, most of the West African coasts are already served by smaller ships. Currently, we see an opportunity to deploy larger ships to Nigeria. To achieve this, we need to expand the port infrastructure, especially in Lagos, where we need a bigger hub for logistics services.”