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President Bola Tinubu has assured investors that his government will keep Nigeria's business environment stable and predictable, as Ogun State signed a major agreement with global logistics giant DP World to build a new deep seaport.The deal was signed in Paris on the sidelines of an investment event, according to a statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga. Governor Dapo Abiodun led the Ogun State delegation, while DP World was represented by its Group Chief Executive Officer, Yuvraj Narayan and senior executives.
The agreement covers two major projects, the Gateway Deep Seaport and the Ogun State Blue Marine Special Economic Zone, both to be sited in Ogun Waterside. The Presidency said they are expected to attract over $7 billion in fresh investment and create more than 50,000 direct jobs when fully operational, with thousands more indirect jobs across the value chain.
For years, ships coming into Nigeria have had to squeeze into the congested Apapa and Tin Can Island ports in Lagos, driving up costs and causing long delays for businesses and consumers. The new Gateway port is designed to change that narrative. With a four-kilometre berth and an 18-metre draft, it will be deep enough to receive large modern vessels that many existing ports cannot handle, offering a faster and cheaper route for goods and positioning Nigeria for trade under the African Continental Free Trade Area, a market estimated at 1.4 billion people.
But the project goes beyond moving cargo. Sitting on 10,000 hectares of land already secured by the Ogun State Government, the Blue Marine Special Economic Zone will serve as an industrial hub where imported materials are converted to finished goods and local raw materials are processed for export. President Tinubu said the zone has already drawn interest from major international manufacturers, noting that while a port moves cargo, a port integrated with a special economic zone builds an economy.
Linking the two projects to national infrastructure, Tinubu pointed to the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway as a critical access corridor. The 28-kilometre Ogun section of the 700-kilometre road is expected to be completed before the end of the year, connecting the new port and zone directly to Lagos and markets inland. He described the collaboration as a clear example of cooperative federalism, with Ogun State handling land acquisition and investment structuring while the Federal Government provides support on roads, rail, power and security.
The President commended Governor Abiodun for reducing risks that often discourage global investors and charged both the state and DP World to move quickly from signed agreements to actual construction. He also noted that the projects sit close to a proposed Nigerian Navy base and the OK LNG project, integrating them into the country’s wider energy and security plans.
Others present at the signing included the Secretary to the Ogun State Government, Tokunbo Talabi, commissioners for finance, works, industry, trade and transport, and a representative of the host community, as well as the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, Nigeria’s Ambassador to France, Emmanuel Ayodele Oke, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, and Karim Noujaim of SkyKapital, financial adviser on the deal.