DANTSOHO: We are Rebuilding Nigerian Ports to Global Standards

In This Interview with Ports & Harbours, the official news magazine of the International Association of Ports and Harbors (IAPH), the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority, Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, who was recently appointed the IAPH Regional Vice President for Africa, outlines the challenges facing Nigeria’s ports, how the government is rebuilding the nation’s seaports to global standards, and his vision for the future. Eromosele Abiodun presents the excerpts

Can you give us a brief introduction to NPA and its priorities?

A: In Nigeria, the port authority is owned by the government and manages navigation, safety, maintenance of the channels, while cargo operations have been privatised to multinational and local terminal operators, such as MSC and APMT. With a large, growing population of over 230 million, and Africa’s leading economy, we require a more efficient ports system than what we inherited. Fortunately, we now have a forward-looking leadership in His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, who created the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy to supervise the NPA and appointed a result-oriented professional in the person of the Minster of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola who is poised to do a lot in terms of expansion, upgrading, rehabilitation to meet our projected capacity. This has motivated us to deploy our experience into transforming the ports.

How would you assess Nigeria’s ports infrastructure today?

With regards to port infrastructure, what we missed doing on time was to construct brand new ports, which we have aggressively commenced with the operationalization of the Lekki Deep Seaport, which is fully automated and has a natural draught of 17 metres and we are ramping up investment, in order to build more deep sea ports.

Our major ports, like Apapa and Tincan, are outdated. The Port of Apapa was built 100 years ago. Even though it has 24 berths, most of them are old. Limited expansion and modernisation makes it difficult to accommodate larger, modern vessels. Our second-biggest port, Tincan, was built almost 50 years ago. But the size of vessels, their speed, the technology that drives them, has changed so much, so it has become difficult for them to come to Nigeria. Also, these two ports are river ports, so they are a bit shallow.

By contrast, neighbouring countries, like Ghana (Tema), Ivory Coast (Abidjan), Togo (Lome), Benin (Cotonou) have acted faster, so they are now ahead of us. Their ports are deeper, more modernized. But the fact remains we are more populated than all of these countries. We are stronger economically, but the boxes have to be dropped there because they have strategically positioned their ports to be more efficient than ours in terms of infrastructure, equipment, technology. So, these are all things that we see as a challenge, but also as an opportunity for growth which we are poised to maximise.

In what ways is IAPH working with Nigeria, and other developing countries, on these challenges?

This links to our ‘’Closing The Gaps’’ exercise we did a few years ago, towards the end of the pandemic, to identify regional investment priorities for ports when it comes to infrastructure, technology, port community systems. Since then, we have been working with regional institutions, development banks and the World Bank, to see how investment support can be provided so that, ultimately, we have competitive ports across all regions. Nigerian Ports Authority is a very interesting port administration because it is closely linked to the government, and the maritime administration, creating stronger coordination with the IMO than in many other countries, which is a great strength.

Our challenges are many, but it’s important to understand some of the history and context to Nigeria and its ports. So if you want to be accurate in assessing us, this historical background is essential, you can’t just jump to saying Nigeria is not doing as well as Belgium or the Netherlands, for example. We have modelled the reform of our port system on recommendations from an international consulting firm and, to a large extent, on the Antwerp system. The execution of a masterplan like that takes a lot of time, but that is the course we’ve chosen to take.

To what extent can port modernisation help Africa’s economic growth?

A: Africa is unique because it is the only continent in the world where the most populous country and the strongest economy does not have the biggest seaport. Africa’s total population is around 1.5 billion, so our potential is huge, but the opportunities for growth are still very much intact. So in terms mining capacity, we have the resources still in the ground. But lack of technology, lack of economic strategy, lack of support and organisation compared to say, China, has denied us. For instance, the Port of Shanghai handled about 41 million TEUs last year, but Africa as a whole handled just 34 million TEUs. And, of course, China is now investing heavily in Africa because of this, for example in Guinea Conakry with the US$16bn Simandou iron ore project.

What about Nigeria specifically and the port sector’s overall contribution?

A: We are going to adopt a multi-dimensional approach and encourage more mining, more agriculture, so our seaports will grow to have the capacity not only to receive imports but also to export. We are also going to pursue a relationship that will lead to the establishment of a new deep sea port in Nigeria. We have licences or permits for six, in fact, but I certainly hope that we can do one of them. And we are going to emulate a project like Tanger-Med in Morocco, for example, with a brand new terminal equipped with the latest technology, and in collaboration with the best partners in the world. With these things in place, foreign investors will naturally come because they have seen that the government is also committed and on board.

How do you think your role at IAPH can help in this transformation?

I appreciate the leadership of Patrick and IAPH. His leadership style and the quality of decisions being made are very important, especially for developing economies like those in Africa. I recall a recent board meeting and the discussions and directions that were taken. To me, those decisions were focused on supporting developing systems, not just Africa, but also smaller regions and mid-level economies such as Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa, and Nigeria. I believe it is important for IAPH to spend more time understanding the ecosystem of developing economies, because of their strong potential. We are certainly not looking for sympathy, we are just looking for collaboration and support.

What is your takeaway message to P&H readers?

I was fortunate to have the opportunity to listen to what all the experts said at the World Ports Conference in Kobe last October, so I took home a lot of ideas from that. But basically, we are looking at a more modernised port system in Nigeria, one that is able to accommodate most of the crucial elements governing maritime in the present age. We’re also going to strengthen our capacity to relate better and to cooperate more fully with international groups, such as IAPH, and other industry bodies.