Nigeria's Ogun State has signed memoranda of understanding with DP World MEA FZE, the Middle East and Africa arm of Dubai-based ports and logistics operator DP World, to develop the proposed Gateway Deep Seaport and Ogun State Blue Marine Special Economic Zone.
The agreements envisage more than $7bn in initial investment and project more than 50,000 direct jobs if the projects reach full development, according to the Nigerian Presidency. The statement did not disclose how the investment would be divided between the projects, the amount DP World would contribute, or the eventual ownership, financing and operating structures.
The MoUs were signed in Paris on September 24 in the presence of President Bola Tinubu, Marine and Blue Economy Minister Adegboyega Oyetola and Nigerian Ports Authority Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Abubakar Dantsoho.
The federal government would provide regulatory and institutional support to move the projects towards implementation, Tinubu said, urging Ogun State and the investors to proceed while complying with regulatory requirements. The statement did not announce final construction or financing agreements.
Governor Dapo Abiodun said Ogun's deep-seaport vision had remained largely unrealised for more than three decades. Tinubu credited Abiodun's administration with securing the land and structuring the investment framework for the projects.
The proposed Gateway Deep Seaport at Ogun Waterside would have a four-kilometre berth and an 18-metre draught, allowing it to accommodate larger, deeper-draught vessels. It is intended to ease pressure on Lagos's Apapa and Tin Can Island ports and reduce logistics costs and delays.
The proposed Blue Marine Special Economic Zone would cover 10,000 hectares and is intended to accommodate manufacturing, processing, logistics and export-oriented industries.
Tinubu said the integrated port-and-zone development was intended to allow imported inputs and Nigerian raw materials to be processed into finished products for domestic and export markets, including trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area.
He said the federal government would facilitate road, rail and power connections for the projects. The 28-kilometre Ogun section of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway was scheduled for completion before the end of 2026 and would provide a transport link between the proposed port and industrial zone, Lagos and inland markets.
Abiodun said the development would form part of a wider multimodal network linking the Gateway International Airport, dry ports, the coastal highway and the deep seaport. Tinubu said the broader corridor would also include a proposed Nigerian Navy operating base and dockyard and the long-delayed Olokola, or OK LNG, project, which Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd (NNPCL) has been seeking to revive.
The corridor is also attracting separate port investment. IntelliNews reported in May that Dangote Industries had begun preliminary work on a separate deep-sea port at the Olokola Free Trade Zone in Ogun Waterside, intended to support its refining, fertiliser and other industrial exports.
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