The Group Vice President, Oil and Gas, Dangote Group, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, has called for cargo-backed financing to strengthen Nigeria’s shipping industry.
Speaking at the Nigeria Chamber of Shipping’s 2026 Members’ Evening in Lagos on Thursday, Edwin said that assured cargo, financing and supporting infrastructure were essential to developing sustainable Nigerian-owned shipping businesses.
“Without assured cargo and supporting infrastructure, new vessel owners struggle and businesses fail, even when finance is available,” Edwin said.
He urged financiers to fund the entire shipping ecosystem, including vessel management, insurance, regulatory approvals and long-term charter agreements.
Edwin said that Dangote Group had previously moved about 300 vessels annually for cement, sugar and flour, but Nigerian ships lacked capacity.
He said that the company would have preferred Nigerian-owned vessels if adequate capacity and cargo availability had existed at the time.
According to him, the growth of refinery, fertiliser and petrochemical exports now presents a major opportunity for indigenous shipping.
He disclosed that Dangote planned to double its capacity and move about 1,800 shipments annually, creating significant demand for Nigerian-flagged vessels.
Edwin said that the opportunities also existed in tugboats, pilot boats, dry docking, shipbuilding, FPSO servicing and other marine support services.
He said that developing the sector would create jobs and retain more shipping-related revenue within Nigeria.
Edwin said that Africa continued to lose economic opportunities by exporting raw materials while importing finished products.
He noted that products such as linear alkyl benzene for detergents and base oils for lubricants were still imported in spite of local crude availability.
Edwin said that Dangote’s expansion experience repeatedly exposed areas where Nigeria depended on imports for products that could be manufactured locally.
He said the same problem affected shipping, with foreign operators capturing much of Nigeria’s vessel ownership, financing, insurance and freight earnings.
Edwin called for talent development beyond seafarers, including naval architects, marine lawyers, surveyors, finance professionals and shipping managers.
He said that Nigerian graduates were talented but needed greater industry exposure and practical opportunities.
Edwin explained that Dangote’s training programme has helped develop engineers locally and abroad and that 15 Nigerian engineers were recently recruited by a Qatari firm.
On port efficiency, he said that Nigeria needed to match international best practices through automation and better coordination.
He cited Tanger Med, where vessel turnaround averaged 2.5 days, compared with about six days in Nigeria.
Edwin urged the Chamber to strengthen advocacy by bringing cargo owners, shipowners, regulators and financiers together.
He said project financing should consider community relations, environmental compliance and overall business viability, rather than focusing solely on vessel acquisition.
In his remarks, the President, Nigeria Chamber of Shipping, Alhaji Aminu Umar, called for sustained public-private dialogue to improve efficiency across Nigeria’s marine and blue economy.
Umar said that partnership was central to maritime development, noting Nigeria’s coastline, ports, waterways and market offered enormous economic potential.
The event had the theme: ‘A Public-Private Dialogue: Unlocking Efficiency in the Marine and Blue Economy Value Chain.’
GIK/APA