Aliko Dangote, President of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), announced that within the next two years, the company plans to export nearly 16,000 tonnes of fertiliser daily, generating about $6.5 to $7 million in revenue for Nigeria each day. The statement was made during a courtesy visit to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) headquarters in Marina, Lagos, on Monday.
Dangote said this export programme will position the company as a major contributor to Nigeria’s foreign exchange earnings. He also revealed that coal exports will begin in a few weeks, alongside continued refinery operations expected to produce over 25 million tonnes of various products annually. Additionally, DIL plans to export between 600,000 and 700,000 metric tonnes of polypropylene.
“We are going to be very big in exports,” Dangote said, stressing the importance of collaboration with the NPA, especially in developing the Marine and Blue Economy sectors to expand Nigeria’s export capacity.
He highlighted the scale of operations at Lekki, with nearly 240 crude oil ships, each carrying one million barrels, and over 600 product shipments annually. Fertiliser operations alone will handle around eight ships per year, an unprecedented volume for the country.
Dangote emphasised the need for strong support for the NPA from the Federal Government, including equipment and additional tug boats, to sustain these large-scale operations.
“We will be pushing for the necessary support to ensure the NPA can meet our operational needs,” he added.
The company is already exporting cement, with a dedicated six million-ton capacity factory, and expects Nigerian port operations to double in the next one to two years.
NPA Managing Director Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho said the visit was also to acknowledge the benefits of the government’s One-Stop-Shop policy on naira payments for crude sales, coordinated by the NPA. He noted the policy has improved efficiency in government agency transactions since its launch in October 2024.
Dantsoho reported that the NPA currently handles about 57 vessels monthly, surpassing the annual target of 600 vessels set by Dangote.
He also announced government approval for the National Single Window initiative and that the NPA is 95 percent ready to launch the Port Community System.
On port expansion, Dantsoho explained that capacity can be increased by upgrading existing ports (brownfield projects) or building new ones (greenfield projects). The last new port built in Nigeria was Tincan Island Port in 1977.
Modernisation of Tincan and Apapa ports has been approved, with construction expected to begin in the third quarter of this year.
