Dawn broke over the ports recently in Lagos, Onne, Tin Can, and beyond — but unlike past years, the sun now rises over terminals humming with activity. In the span of just two years, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has turned its ambition into visible momentum: ships docking more often, cargo moving faster, and revenue lines swelling. What once felt like creeping pace is now a steady sprint toward global competitiveness.
Cargo throughput, the lifeblood of maritime trade, has surged. From roughly 71.2 million metric tons in 2023 to 103.3 million in 2024, the ports registered a 45.1% jump. Lekki Port stole the spotlight — with an astonishing 2,160.8% growth — while Onne and Tin Can also posted respectable gains of 9.4% and 7.3% respectively. Liquid bulk remains king, making up over half of all cargo handled.
Ship traffic isn’t just growing — it’s bulking up.
The number of ship calls climbed from 3,791 in 2023 to 4,005 in 2024. But tonnage, the heft of commerce, rose even more steeply: gross registered tonnage (GRT) jumped 15.4%, from 123.66 million to about 142.66 million tons. And again, Lekki grabbed headlines — its ship call increase of nearly 478% remains unmatched.
Containers tell another story of progress and ambition. In 2024, total container throughput rose by 9.7% over 2023, handling 1,744,972 TEUs versus 1,591,194. Laden exports saw a stunning 53.7% rise, showing the ports aren’t just taking in imports but pushing Nigeria’s goods outward. Transshipment containers leapt by 136.5%, signalling a role for Nigerian ports as regional redistribution hubs.
Behind the docks and cranes, service boats have been working overtime. The service boat traffic increased by 49.6%, while the GRT for those boats more than doubled — 129.3% growth. Those numbers reflect more than idle water traffic; they point to offshore work, pilotage, and auxiliary operations scaling up.
Efficiency, too, edges upward. The average turnaround time for vessels slipped from 4.7 days in 2023 to 4.6 in 2024 — a modest improvement, but in port operations every hour counts. Likewise, berth occupancy (how much of the docking spaces are actively in use) climbed from 30.1% to 33%. Lekki Port already shows even sharper gains: its average vessel turnaround is now just 2.5 days.
Revenue, perhaps the most tangible marker for many, has soared. In 2023, NPA raked in ₦501 billion, up from ₦361 billion the previous year. By mid-2024, the figures were even more striking: revenue of ₦541 billion in the first half alone, with remittances to government (the Consolidated Revenue Fund) hitting record highs.
To match financial gains with infrastructure, the NPA has rolled out bold reforms. Among them: modernising terminals, improving the Dangote Refinery’s marine assets, deploying digital systems like the National Single Window, Port Community System (PCS), and Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS). These aren’t cosmetic tweaks — they aim to transform the ports’ DNA.
Human capital, too, has been a priority. After years of wage stagnation, workers got approved salary increases. Bonuses and promotions followed, fostering a morale shift. Unions such as SSASGOC and the Maritime Workers Union have expressed confidence in management’s people-centred approach.
Safety and internal standards are no longer afterthoughts. The NPA enforced minimum safety standards for port-operating trucks: inspections, certifications, and safety IDs became mandatory. An electronic call-up system reduced traffic gridlock, accidents, and delays, cutting incidents by about 65% inside port premises.
Strategic investments are multiplying. Port projects are underway in Calabar, Warri, Burutu, and deep seaports like Badagry and Ondo. The broader goal: modernisation across decayed infrastructure — silted channels, broken quays, ageing equipment. Lekki Deep Sea Port functions as a stove-hot model: fully automated, built to accommodate super post-Panamax vessels, and already handling transshipment traffic.
Even as revenue and operations scale up, the NPA isn’t ignoring fiscal responsibility. In 2024, the NPA targeted ₦865.39 billion in revenues but exceeded it, bringing in ₦894.86 billion. Meanwhile, remittances to the national purse rose almost twofold: from ₦213.23 billion in 2023 to ₦400.8 billion in 2024.
Looking ahead, 2025’s budget proposal signals even bigger ambitions: ₦1.28 trillion in revenue target, with more than 70% of proposed spending going to capital projects. Focus areas include finishing construction and upgrades at terminals like WACT and OMT, fully activating the Dangote Refinery’s SPM facility (which promises hundreds of vessels calls yearly), and continuing technology roll-outs.
But challenges remain, because growth at this scale strains systems built for smaller loads. Issues like infrastructure decay, bottlenecks at port access roads, capacity constraints, and delays in some legacy processes hint that momentum must be managed carefully.
Yet, in sum, the story is one of transformation. From revenue milestones and safety reforms to drastically improved throughput and ship traffic, the NPA’s two-year scorecard shows an organisation shifting its trajectory in bold strokes. If this pace is sustained, Nigeria’s ports could become not just hubs of national commerce, but linchpins in West Africa’s trade architecture — gateways helping to pull forward growth, competitiveness, and opportunity.