Nigeria's exports have grown by more than 25 percent over the past two years, driven by government reforms and improved port operations, the managing director of the Nigeria Ports Authority said at the World Ports Conference in London. Abubakar Dantsoho told the conference that the expansion extends beyond oil and gas, which has benefited from higher prices due to geopolitical conflicts, to include manufacturing and agriculture. The NPA has worked with major terminal operators, particularly APM Terminals, the country's largest container terminal operator, to support this growth.
To sustain the momentum, the NPA has established four export processing terminals across Nigeria where the authority collaborates with terminal operators, the Nigeria Customs Service and other agencies to process export cargo before shipment. This arrangement enables exporters to complete required procedures domestically and address product standards issues before goods leave the country, reducing delays and improving competitiveness. Dantsoho said Nigeria is now better positioned to benefit from the African Continental Free Trade Area, citing reforms by the current administration and strengthening trade ties with other African nations, including Morocco, with which Nigeria is exchanging ideas on manufacturing and intra-African commerce.
Dantsoho noted that Nigeria's ports are now performing better than several other West African ports, a claim he said was supported by performance data from the Association of Ports in West and Central Africa, which he chairs. He acknowledged improvements in Tanzania and Kenya, stating that regional collaboration was delivering results. To maintain this trajectory, the federal government plans a $1 billion investment to expand and modernise Apapa Port. In March, the United Kingdom agreed to finance a £746 million upgrade of Apapa and Tincan Island ports through a Citibank loan backed by UK Export Finance.
The NPA is also pursuing technology partnerships to strengthen port operations, including a collaboration with a Singaporean firm to develop a single-window system and another with an Abu Dhabi-based company to establish a port community system. For exporters and importers, these improvements mean faster cargo processing and lower transaction costs, while businesses in agriculture and manufacturing gain better access to regional markets through improved port infrastructure and trade cooperation.