Stakeholders in Nigeria’s maritime sector have identified high port charges, ageing infrastructure, inadequate digital integration and negative attitudes among port users and operators as major obstacles to the competitiveness of Nigerian ports.
They spoke during a panel session at the 4th MARAN Maritime Annual Lecture (MAMAL 2026) held in lagos.
The lecture, organised by the Maritime Reporters’ Association of Nigeria (MARAN), was themed “Nigerian Ports Modernisation, Charges and the Competitiveness Question.”
Moderating the panel, Mr. Emmanuel Maigunwa said port competitiveness should go beyond reducing the cost of importing and exporting goods to positioning Nigeria as a major regional trade and transit corridor.
He noted that efficient and competitively priced ports would ultimately reduce the burden on citizens, while enabling Nigeria to attract cargoes from neighbouring countries and derive greater economic benefits from its strategic maritime position.
Representing the Nigerian Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (NACCIMA) on the panel, Mr. Willem Inya said the multiplicity of port charges remained a major concern for private-sector operators.
According to him, importers often face several charges while trying to clear their containers, with delays resulting in additional demurrage that further increases the cost of doing business.
He called for the harmonisation and rationalisation of port charges, stressing that high and multiple charges could make Nigerian businesses uncompetitive.
Also speaking, Joseph Adegbite, Assistant General Manager, Corporate and Strategic Planning, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), identified ageing port infrastructure as one of the biggest challenges to efficient port operations.
Adegbite explained that most Nigerian ports, apart from the Lekki Deep Sea Port, were more than 50 years old, making infrastructure renewal critical to improving port productivity and efficiency.
He said deteriorating infrastructure limits the type of cargo-handling equipment that can be deployed at the ports, thereby affecting productivity and increasing the time vessels and cargoes spend within the port system.
According to him, every inefficiency in port operations ultimately translates into additional costs for port users and consumers.
Adegbite said the Federal Government’s ongoing port modernisation programme, which is beginning with the Lagos area because of its dominant share of the country’s maritime traffic, would subsequently extend to the Eastern ports.
He, however, stressed that modernisation must go beyond physical infrastructure to include digital integration, renewable energy, Port Community Systems and a Maritime Single Window.
“Port operation is a communal system. It is a community,” he said, stressing that the different agencies and stakeholders must be digitally integrated to eliminate operational silos and reduce delays.
Adegbite also identified infrastructure challenges at several ports, including the Rivers and Warri ports, while noting that Onne Port also requires significant infrastructure improvements.
Contributing from the floor, Mrs. Chinwe Ezenwa, Managing Director, Le Look Bags, argued that infrastructure alone would not solve Nigeria’s port problems, insisting that the mindset and attitude of stakeholders must also change.
She called for deliberate sensitisation and reorientation of port users, practitioners and other stakeholders to protect public infrastructure and promote responsible conduct.
Ezenwa said she had witnessed situations where government infrastructure was vandalised, stressing that investments in infrastructure would be wasted if Nigerians did not develop the right attitude towards public assets.
She advocated sustained public enlightenment and a renewed value system as part of the measures required to make port modernisation successful.
On the impact of high charges and tariffs, Captain Ladi Olubowale of the African Ship Owners Association warned that excessive costs could divert cargoes from Nigerian ports to neighbouring countries.
He said such cargoes could subsequently be moved into Nigeria through land borders at additional cost, thereby fuelling inflation and increasing the burden on consumers.
Olubowale also linked high port charges to the growth of smuggling, arguing that excessive costs could undermine the Federal Government’s efforts to expand the Nigerian economy.
He said Nigeria’s ambition of building a one-trillion-dollar economy by 2030 would require efficient ports with competitive and harmonised charges that support both importers and exporters.
The stakeholders therefore called for a coordinated approach to port reform involving infrastructure renewal, digitalisation, transparent and harmonised charges, stakeholder sensitisation and improved operational efficiency.
They stressed that Nigeria’s strategic location and vast maritime potential could only translate into economic growth if its ports were made efficient, competitive and attractive to cargo owners and regional traders.
The panel session formed part of activities at MAMAL 2026, MARAN’s flagship annual maritime lecture, which brought together policymakers, regulators, industry operators, academics, journalists and other stakeholders to examine the challenges and opportunities surrounding the modernisation and competitiveness of Nigerian ports.
Leave a Reply