Nigeria on Wednesday reiterated its ambition to position itself as a central hub in the West African maritime and shipping network, with plans to deepen its role in regional trade and global transshipment operations.

The Chairman of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Ibrahim Shema, said the country holds significant potential to serve as a gateway for cargo movement across West Africa and beyond.

Shema, a former governor of Katsina State, stated this after touring the facilities of Port and Terminal Multi-Services Limited (PTML) and Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) in Apapa on Wednesday.

He noted that Nigeria is already witnessing increasing transshipment activities involving goods destined for countries such as Ghana, Morocco and other regional markets.

He explained that strengthening Nigeria’s port infrastructure and improving operational efficiency would further enhance the country’s competitiveness as a preferred shipping destination, while also boosting economic growth through increased trade volumes.

According to him, Nigeria’s strategic location provides a natural advantage for becoming a logistics and distribution centre for cargo moving in and out of the West African sub-region.

Shema added that the government is committed to ensuring efficiency, fairness and competitiveness across the maritime value chain, stressing that all relevant stakeholders—including terminal operators, shipping lines and regulatory agencies—must work collaboratively to achieve the sector’s full potential.

He also expressed optimism after touring several port terminals, describing ongoing investments by terminal operators and shipping companies as a strong signal of confidence in Nigeria’s maritime future.

“The level of investment we are seeing from port operators and shipping lines is encouraging,” he said, adding that such developments reflect growing trust in Nigeria’s maritime reforms and long-term economic direction.

The NSC chairman assured stakeholders that the government would continue to create an enabling environment to attract fresh investment while supporting existing operators to improve service delivery.

He further emphasised that a more efficient and competitive port system would not only benefit operators but also enhance trade facilitation for shippers, who remain central users of maritime infrastructure across the country.

Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of the council, Dr Pius Akutah, said the tour of shipping companies was designed to help the council’s governing board better understand the challenges and opportunities within the maritime industry.

According to him, the visit, which included inspections of facilities such as PTML Terminal and Mediterranean Shipping Company, followed a stakeholders’ engagement on freight tariff adjustment held the previous day.

“You know that just yesterday, we had a stakeholders’ engagement to deal with the issue of freight-tariff adjustment. Today again, we’re here with the board and management to tour PTML Terminal and MSC,” he said.

“We have taken a tour of these facilities to brief the board on what is happening in the sector so that they will better understand both the challenges and the opportunities available to us. We will continue to work together to ensure we achieve the mandate set for us by Mr President in the industry.

“One of our key focus areas is attracting investment. Here, MSC has informed us of its proposed $1 billion investment in Snake Island and the potential that this investment holds,” he added.

Dr Akutah commended the initiative and urged increased private sector participation in the maritime and blue economy space, noting that significant opportunities still exist.

“We are quite appreciative of this effort. We are calling on other stakeholders in the sector to take advantage of the fact that the marine and blue economy sector is progressing and there are many open opportunities,” he said.

“So people can invest. This is the right place to invest at this time, because once things begin to fully take shape in this sector, some may come in too late. We are therefore urging those who want to invest to make haste.”

With ongoing reforms and rising private sector participation, Nigeria is positioning itself to play a stronger role in global shipping routes while reinforcing its status as a key logistics hub in West Africa.

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