Marine economy set for boost as Dangote, NPA target daily $7m fertilizer export

Speaking during a courtesy visit to the NPA headquarters in Lagos, DIL President Aliko Dangote highlighted the scale of the company’s upcoming operations at Lekki.

“The size of our operation at Lekki alone is going to be almost 240 ships of crude, with each ship carrying one million barrels.

“Add over 600 ships for products and eight ships for fertiliser—this is an operation never before seen in the country,” he said.

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Dangote emphasised the need for government support for NPA to meet the demands of this scale.

“Our operations will sink if NPA doesn’t give us the services we need. They need more equipment and tugboats, and we’ll be advocating for the federal government’s support,” he stated.

He revealed plans to start exporting coal and polypropylene, in addition to existing cement exports.

“We will be exporting 16,000 tons of fertiliser daily, amounting to around $6.5 to $7 million in daily revenue. We will become a major source of foreign exchange for Nigeria,” Dangote added.

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NPA Managing Director, Abubakar Dantsoho, noted that Dangote’s visit also celebrated the success of the “Naira for Crude” policy, with NPA already handling more vessels than projected.

He announced modernisation of the Tin-Can and Apapa ports and progress on several deep-seaport projects, including Ibom, Olokola, and Badagry.

Dantsoho expressed optimism: “With collaboration and a unified government approach, Nigeria’s ports can double their current capacity within two years.”