Africa’s wealthiest businessman, Aliko Dangote, is seeking approval to construct a new seaport in Ogun State as part of his broader strategy to strengthen the export capacity of his rapidly expanding industrial ventures.
Speaking recently in Lagos, Dangote revealed that paperwork for the proposed Atlantic seaport at Olokola was submitted in late June, describing it as a step towards building what he calls “Nigeria’s largest and deepest port.”
The planned facility, situated roughly 100 kilometres from his sprawling fertilizer and petrochemical complex in Lagos, is designed to ease the movement of goods including liquefied natural gas, Bloomberg reported.
Currently, Dangote exports fertilizer and urea through a private jetty adjoining his refinery site, which also serves as a docking point for importing massive industrial machinery.
If approved, the new seaport will integrate seamlessly with his logistics network and export infrastructure, creating competition for existing ports in Lagos such as the Chinese-funded Lekki Deep Sea Port that launched operations last year.
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“It’s not that we want to do everything by ourselves, but I think doing this will encourage other entrepreneurs to come into it,” he said.
The port was reported to mark the billionaire’s return to the same site where he had previously abandoned plans to build his giant refinery and fertilizer complex following disputes with local authorities, tensions that have now been resolved under a new administration.
It was also revealed that Dangote plans to export liquefied gas from Lagos, a project that would require constructing pipelines from Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta. The group’s vice-president, Devakumar Edwin, explained in another interview that they aimed to undertake a major project to bring in more gas than Nigeria LNG Ltd. currently produces. Nigeria LNG Ltd. is a joint venture between the government, Shell Plc, Eni SpA, and TotalEnergies SE, and is the largest exporter of LNG on the continent.
Edwin further stated that they knew where large quantities of gas could be found and intended to run a pipeline through those areas and bring the gas to the shore.