DANGOTE EYES AFRICA’S NEXT MEGA PORT IN NEW EXPANSION MOVE

Dangote plots bold return to Olokola with plans to build one of Africa’s deepest and most advanced seaports.

Nigeria Dangote group Africa Olokola free trade zone Seaport.
Aliko Dangote
Aliko Dangote

In a strategic move that signals renewed confidence in Nigeria’s infrastructure future, the Dangote Group is making a dramatic return to the Olokola Free Trade Zone with a proposal to construct what could become the country’s largest and deepest seaport.

The proposed port, located in Ogun State’s long-overlooked Olokola corridor, marks a significant pivot for Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote. Once abandoned due to unresolved disputes with the state’s previous administration, the Olokola zone is now back on the conglomerate’s radar, this time as a potential export hub for its vast industrial outputs.

Submitted to regional authorities in late June, the proposal outlines a state-of-the-art seaport designed to support large-scale exports from Dangote’s extensive industrial assets. Though the port’s approval status remains unclear, industry analysts see the move as both symbolic and strategic: a possible game-changer for Nigeria’s trade logistics and Dangote’s long-term global shipping ambitions.

Located roughly 100 kilometers from Dangote’s fertilizer and petrochemical complexes in Lagos, the port project also rekindles earlier plans to centralize such operations within Ogun State. Those initial ambitions were shelved years ago after negotiations with the state government broke down, pushing Dangote to shift its massive plants closer to Lagos.

If greenlit, the Olokola port could emerge as a critical link in West Africa’s industrial supply chain, boosting Nigeria’s export capacity, reducing logistics costs, and reinvigorating a dormant free trade zone once envisioned as a cornerstone of regional economic growth.

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