President Bola Tinubu has said that the Federal Government would provide policy stability and regulatory certainty for investors as Ogun State and DP World, the Dubai-based ports and logistics operator, signed memorandums of understanding (MoU). for a proposed deep-sea port and industrial zone expected to draw more than $7 billion in investment.
Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy Bayo Onanuga in a statement said the agreements cover the Gateway Deep Seaport at Ogun Waterside and the Ogun State Blue Marine Special Economic Zone, a planned 10,000-hectare industrial and logistics hub.
The projects are projected to create more than 50,000 direct jobs at full development, according to the presidency.
President Tinubu said the Federal Government would help move the projects from agreement to execution by providing regulatory and institutional support, while holding parties accountable for their commitments.
“The agreements before us bring together vision, expertise, capital and execution capacity,” Tinubu said at the signing ceremony in Paris.
“We will facilitate road, rail and power connectivity; strengthen investment security and our maritime domain; and remove unnecessary bureaucratic obstacles.”
The proposed Port would have a four-kilometre berth and an 18-metre draft, allowing it to handle larger vessels than many existing Nigerian facilities.
The statement said the project is intended to ease pressure on the congested Lagos port corridor, including the Apapa and Tin Can Island ports, where infrastructure constraints and delays have long increased freight costs for importers and exporters.
DP World, one of the world’s largest port operators, is expected to play a central role in developing the logistics and maritime components of the project.
SkyKapital is serving as financial adviser.
Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun led the state delegation to the event, which was attended by Minister of Marine and Blue Economy Adegboyega Oyetola; Nigerian Ports Authority Managing Director Abubakar Dantsoho; Nigeria’s ambassador to France, Emmanuel Ayodele Oke; DP World Group Chief Executive Yuvraj Narayan; and SkyKapital Managing Director Karim Noujaim.
The planned special economic zone would combine manufacturing, processing, warehousing and export operations.
President Tinubu said imported inputs would be transformed into finished goods within the zone, while Nigerian raw materials would be processed for export.
“A port moves cargo; a port integrated with a special economic zone helps to build an economy,” the president said. “Each reinforces the other.”
The development forms part of Nigeria’s broader effort to expand non-oil exports and establish itself as a logistics hub for trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area, which links a market of roughly 1.4 billion people.
President Tinubu said Nigeria’s location in West Africa had not translated fully into commercial advantage because of port congestion, inadequate draft capacity and weak logistics links.
He said the Ogun projects were designed to address those constraints through an integrated industrial and transport corridor.
A key part of that plan is the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, a proposed 700-kilometre road project.
The statement said the 28-kilometre section running through Ogun State is scheduled for completion before year-end and would provide a transport connection for the proposed port and industrial zone.
The projects are also expected to support a wider industrial cluster near a proposed Nigerian Navy operating base and dockyard, as well as the planned OK LNG project, linking maritime infrastructure with Nigeria’s gas-export ambitions.
President Tinubu urged Ogun State and the investors to move quickly from the preliminary agreements to implementation, saying the federal government would continue to work with subnational governments to remove investment bottlenecks while enforcing Nigerian laws and regulatory requirements.
NewsQuest reports that the accords represent an early step rather than final project financing or construction approval.
