Africa’s wealthiest industrialist, Aliko Dangote, is advancing plans for a new deep seaport in Nigeria, a move that reportedly aims to streamline exports, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), and underpin the rapid expansion of his diverse industrial conglomerate.
The proposed Atlantic seaport, to be located in Olokola, Ogun state, about 100 kilometres by road from Dangote’s fertilizer plant and petrochemicals refinery in Lagos, is envisioned as the biggest, deepest port in Nigeria, according to Dangote. Paperwork for official permission was filed in late June.
Currently, Dangote facilitates the export of urea and fertilizer, and receives heavy equipment for his refinery, via an existing on-site jetty. The completion of the new deep seaport is expected to enhance the conglomerate’s logistics and export operations, establishing a formidable rival to existing facilities in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre. This includes the Chinese-funded Lekki Deep Sea Port, which commenced operations in 2023 and currently boasts a capacity of 1.2 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) annually, with plans to expand to 2.7 million TEUs. Lekki Port can accommodate vessels up to 18,000 TEUs, encompassing container ships, bulk carriers, and oil tankers.
Dangote explained that the initiative is not merely about self-sufficiency. “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 stated.
Beyond conventional exports, the conglomerate is also eyeing LNG exports from Lagos. This ambitious project, confirmed by Devakumar Edwin, vice-president of Dangote Group, will necessitate the construction of new pipelines originating from Nigeria’s oil-rich Niger Delta. Edwin detailed the scale of the gas venture: “We want to do a major project to bring more gas than what NLNG is doing today,” referencing Nigeria LNG Ltd., a joint venture involving the Nigerian government, Shell Plc, Eni, and TotalEnergies SA, currently Africa’s largest LNG exporter. “We know where there is a lot of gas, so run a pipeline all through and then bring it to the shore,” he added.
Dangote’s existing fertilizer plant already sources natural gas from the Niger Delta, where it serves as a feedstock for producing hydrogen for ammonia, a key component in crop nutrient production.
