NPA chief warns cyberattacks could disrupt African ports as AI spreads

The head of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, has warned that African ports could suffer serious economic damage from cyberattacks as they lean more on digital tools and artificial intelligence (AI).

Dantsoho, who also leads the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA), spoke at the African Ports Conference in Casablanca, Morocco, on Tuesday. His comments were made public in a statement on Wednesday.

He said an attack on port systems is no longer just a computer problem. It can stop cargo from moving, cut into trade and make shipping schedules unreliable.

He pointed to past incidents elsewhere. A 2021 cyberattack on South Africa's Transnet forced the country's container terminals to declare force majeure, a legal step that frees parties from contractual obligations. In 2023, cyber incidents disrupted Japan's Port of Nagoya and DP World terminals in Australia for days.

"These were not merely IT problems. They were interruptions to trade," Dantsoho said.

For ordinary Nigerians, port disruptions can mean delayed goods, higher costs for importers and knock-on effects on prices. Ports handle much of the country's imports, from food and medicine to machinery and fuel products.

What Nigeria is doing

Dantsoho said Nigeria has been digitising its ports. According to him, the NPA went live this year with the National Single Window and a test version of the Port Community System. Both are meant to help the Nigeria Customs Service, terminal operators, shipping lines and regulators work from the same information.

But he cautioned that such platforms must not become a single weak link. "A single window must not become a single point of failure," he said.

He set out five steps for stronger protection: treat cyber security as part of port security, keep operational systems separate from office networks, require connected partners to meet agreed security standards, test recovery plans in practice, and train staff to spot and report threats.

He stressed that a written plan alone proves nothing. "A recovery plan is not proven because it exists. It is proven because it works," he said.

On AI, Dantsoho said the technology can help ports cut vessel waiting times, plan berths better, coordinate truck movement and spot revenue gaps. But he said its value should be judged by results, not by how much technology a port buys.

He also recalled that cargo once sat at Lagos ports for up to three weeks, while the Apapa access road built for about 2,400 trucks a day carried more than 7,000. He credited the Eto electronic truck call-up system with easing that gridlock.

He said Nigeria's performance in the World Bank's Container Port Performance Index 2025 was encouraging, citing Tin Can Island Port and Apapa Port.

What happens next

Dantsoho's call for shared intelligence and common digital standards across African ports is a proposal, not yet a policy. Whether regional port authorities adopt joint rules will depend on further talks among members of PMAWCA and other bodies.