APM Terminals urges port upgrade, rail and barge use to cut cargo delays

Nigeria's ports will keep slowing trade unless ageing facilities are upgraded and cargo is moved by rail and barge as well as by road, APM Terminals Nigeria has said.

The terminal operator made the case at the 32nd Nigerian Economic Summit in Abuja, held on 26 and 27 October under the theme "Growth that Works: Delivering Jobs, Productivity and Shared Prosperity." The event brought together government officials, business leaders and other stakeholders.

Speaking for the company, its Chief Executive Officer Koen De Backker said ports exist to keep goods moving and to create wealth for Nigerians. "Our job is to facilitate trade, to be an enabler for cargo to move in and out of the port, and to create wealth and prosperity for the population of Nigeria," he said.

Why it matters for prices and jobs

For the ordinary Nigerian, how quickly a container leaves a port affects what shoppers pay. When boxes sit too long at terminals, space runs out and the whole chain slows, De Backker explained. He said the answer is to spread cargo evacuation across rail and barging instead of leaning almost entirely on trucks.

He pointed to APM Terminals' logistics centre in the Ibadan area, where export goods are gathered, packed into containers and sent to the terminal by rail, as an example of what alternative routes can do.

De Backker also called for modernising the country's old port infrastructure, saying technology, specialist skills and investment are needed to raise capacity and efficiency. Private involvement in ports, he argued, should not be seen only as privatisation but as a chance to bring in professionals and modernise the facilities.

He added that government agencies, Customs and clearing agents must work closely together. He cited the use of cargo scanners, saying cooperation with Customs meant containers could be scanned instead of only physically examined, which improved both speed and security. According to him, this helped cut import container dwell time from 18 to 14 days in the case discussed, meaning goods become available sooner and costs fall.

Delivering President Bola Tinubu's address, Vice President Kashim Shettima said reforms must translate into real prosperity. "Our pursuit of prosperity demands greater productivity from every worker, enterprise, and investment," he said, adding that the government would keep easing regulatory burdens, improving transparency and policy predictability, and widening access to finance.

Nigerian Economic Summit Group Chairman Olaniyi Yusuf said the next stage of reforms should focus on lower production costs, reliable infrastructure, productive investment and better public spending.

What happens next

The summit ended with no new policy announced. The push now is for port operators, Customs and other agencies to deepen the cooperation that produced the scanner gains, while rail and barge links are expanded so more cargo can leave the ports without adding to road congestion.