NPA Boss Warns Outdated Infrastructure Limits Economic Growth in West and Central Africa

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Abubakar Dantsoho, has stated that African nations cannot achieve meaningful economic expansion or compete effectively on the global stage while relying on outdated port infrastructure.

Speaking at a regional maritime gathering, Dantsoho emphasized that the West and Central African sub-regions must aggressively prioritize port modernization, technical automation, and deep-sea capacity expansions to avoid being entirely left behind in the evolving global maritime race.

The NPA boss highlighted that sub-optimal infrastructure acts as a heavy tax on regional trade, driving up the cost of landing goods and causing severe cargo clearing delays. Key logistical hurdles currently holding back regional ports include:

• Shallow Draft Limits: Many older ports in the sub-region lack the channel depth required to berth modern, ultra-large container vessels, forcing reliance on smaller feeder ships that inflate freight costs.
• Manual Bottlenecks: A lack of fully integrated digital port community systems leads to bureaucratic delays, human error, and cargo dwell times that drastically lag behind European and Asian standards.
• Intermodal Gaps: Poor road and rail connectivity immediately outside the port gates creates severe arterial gridlock, hindering the smooth transit of goods to landlocked neighboring economies.

To remedy these systemic deficits, Dantsoho called for an intentional shift toward public-private partnerships (PPPs) to inject the massive capital required for structural upgrades. He noted that Nigeria is already taking proactive steps by targeting major rehabilitation frameworks for its aging port systems, including the Lagos Port Complex and Tin Can Island, alongside a push to fully operationalize national single-window digital trade platforms.

The NPA leadership urged regional port authorities across West and Central Africa to foster greater regulatory collaboration. By unifying customs processes, standardizing port tariffs, and investing in deep-water berths, the sub-region can collectively lower shipping costs, capture a larger share of global maritime transit, and maximize the trade benefits offered by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).