May 1, (THEWILL)- The purported $600 million seaport infrastructure deal between Nigeria and Danish shipping giant, Maersk, is generating confusion.
THEWILL had reported on Sunday that President Bola Tinubu secured an investment of $600 million from Danish shipping and logistics company, A.P Moller-Maersk, to expand existing port infrastructure to accommodate more container shipping services in Nigerian ports.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, who disclosed this in a statement, had said Chairman of A.P Moller-Maersk, Robert Maersk Uggla, reaffirmed the company’s decision at a meeting with President Tinubu on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday.
This reaffirmation followed an earlier meeting between Maersk Terminals Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Keith Svendsen and Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, in February 2024.
During the meeting, which was captured on video, Svendsen, who reiterated Maersk’s commitment to investing more in Nigeria, had outlined plans to allocate an initial $100 million, with an additional “half-billion dollars” ($500m) earmarked for port investment in Lagos, Nigeria.
Sunday’s Riyadh meeting between President Tinubu and the Maersk Chairman was, therefore, another opportunity seized to reconfirm Maersk’s expanding port investment interest in Nigeria.
While reports of the Maersk investment deal made headlines, a recent statement credited to the company’s spokesperson is generating controversy.
“No such agreement is in place, and no deals have been signed,” a company spokesperson told Lloyd’s List, a leading online maritime publication.
However, THEWILL gathered that without all the necessary paperwork in place to back the planned $600m investment, the Danish giant, which is working on reporting its first-quarter 2024 financial results in a couple of days, can not make official statements on the deal because of the risk of facing a sanction for spoofing.
But the company told Lloyd’s List “Maersk has been present in Nigeria for 35 years and, as a global provider of logistics services, we remain committed to developing opportunities for growth to people, the port sector and businesses locally. Therefore, it is natural to have an ongoing dialogue with the administration. However, we are not able to comment on any investment talks.”
Lloyd’s List also admitted in its report that the “management is in a regulatory quiet period, limiting what they can say publicly about the company’s activities” because of the upcoming financial results.
When it is finalised, the $600m Maersk’s investment is expected to, among other values, complement the Federal Government’s ongoing $1 billion investment in seaport reconstruction across the eastern and western seaports of Nigeria.
About the Author
