THE CASE FOR UNDERUTILISED SEAPORTS

More functional seaports will enhance the economy

On 24 September in Paris, the French capital, a Memorandum of Understanding between DP World, a private port operator, and the Ogun State Government was signed to develop the Gateway Deep Seaport and the Ogun State Blue Marine Special Economic Zone. Prominent figures who attended the event included President Bola Tinubu, Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, and the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Abubakar Dantsoho. Details of the deal indicated that it would attract an initial investment of over $7 billion and create more than 50,000 direct jobs when fully developed. The Gateway Deep Sea Port will have a four-kilometre berth and an 18-metre draft, which would enable it handle very large vessels. On its part, the Ogun State Blue Marine Special Economic Zone is estimated to span over 10,000 hectares, hosting numerous multi-sector businesses involved in manufacturing, processing and export-oriented operations.

However, as many stakeholders have argued, the deal would mean a concentration of maritime infrastructure and operations in the South-West, with Lagos alone boasting of major ports located at Apapa, Tin Can Island, Lekki, while plans are afloat to develop Badagry Seaport. A pillar of their grouse is that the natural ports in Calabar, Port Harcourt, Onne, Sapele and Warri have largely been ignored while concerted efforts are concentrated on the Lagos ports with the attendant traffic gridlock and high cost of haulage to other parts of the country. The backlash seemingly triggered a response from Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, who announced through his official X account that four ports outside Lagos have received approval to be upgraded while six new deep seaports would be developed across the country. He identified the seaports as Onne, Port Harcourt and Calabar. The six proposed deep seaports are Ibom in Akwa Ibom State, Bakassi in Cross River State, Agge in Bayelsa State, Gateway in Ogun State, Ondo in Ondo State and Bonny in Rivers State.

Indeed, over the years, the chronic congestion in the Lagos ports has inflated prohibitive logistics costs and dimmed Nigeria’s competitiveness in the maritime sector. A report by Dynanmar, a Dutch consultancy firm, revealed that Nigeria loses a staggering N20 billion daily at the ports due to poor infrastructure and inefficiencies. Benin Republic is reaping from Nigeria’s misfortune. Its port in Cotonou has remained a haven for most importers. Huge trade cargoes are also lost to Togo and other neighbouring countries from where they are offloaded and transshipped to Nigeria due to poor shipping connectivity and shallow draft of the port channels. “In the West and Central Africa region, 80 per cent of containers are destined for Nigeria, but less than 20 per cent actually arrive because of the decayed infrastructure, whether at Lagos, Port Harcourt, or other ports,” said maritime and commercial lawyer, Olisa Agbakoba, SAN.

Despite the ease of doing business initiative by the federal government, Nigeria ports have been rated as among the worst in sub-Saharan Africa. With bad policies, maritime authorities have failed to position the ports among the best on the continent as a result of a series of failed policies. Years of excessive reliance on Apapa and Tin Can ports have led to crippling gridlock, corruption, inefficiency, and the collapse of traffic management systems. The problem persists despite the recent introduction of the electronic call-up system to manage the chaotic traffic. In the aftermath, most ships bringing goods to Nigeria prefer to go to other neighbouring ports, particularly Cotonou, Tema and Lome.

But after decades of missed opportunities measured in trillions of naira, the federal government seems to be taking seriously the need to decentralise the country’s seaports and unlock dormant economic potential. The NPA has indicated its determination to build a maritime nation where every shoreline counts by transforming several waterways into corridors of commerce. The Lekki Deep Seaport in Lagos is a model for port modernisation. It is expectedly making a huge difference, attracting more than $20 billion in investment. It is a model worthy of replication. The country needs more seaports to trade effectively, and indeed to stop the current hemorrhage. The underutilised seaports have the capacity to significantly increase our national revenue and indeed our Gross Domestic Product.