Experts have warned that as African nations invest billions of dollars in building deep seaports, only foreign shipping firms will benefit due to the absence of strategic national and regional marine fleets. They stated that the gap in fleet ownership will allow foreign shipping interests to capture a significant share of the value generated by African trade, logistics, and maritime services.
Seamate Executive Director's Concerns
The Executive Director of Seamate Maritime Integrated Services Limited, Ladi Olubowale, said a boom in deep seaport constructions across Africa is not enough to drive the continent's economic future alone, without massive investments in strategic marine assets. He listed the assets needed to sustain trade movement, including vessel acquisition, coastal shipping systems, offshore support fleets, inland waterways logistics, marine engineering capabilities, cargo distribution networks, and integrated supply chain operations.
Olubowale, who is also the immediate past president of the African Shipowners Association (ASA), criticized the total neglect by African countries and investors to invest in these strategic marine assets that can drive the deep-seaport economy. He noted that governments in Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, Angola, Namibia, Kenya, Tanzania, and South Africa are committing billions of dollars toward maritime infrastructure development. For many policymakers, these projects symbolize economic growth, industrialization, regional trade integration, and global competitiveness.
Structural Reality to Confront
Olubowale said that beneath the optimism lies a structural reality that Africa must urgently confront, as ports alone do not create maritime power. He pointed out that major maritime economies like Singapore, the UAE, China, Norway, Greece, and South Korea did not become maritime powers solely through infrastructure spending, but from strategic private sector investment in marine assets, shipping capacity, industrial logistics systems, and trade-linked maritime ecosystems.
Expressing great concerns about how Africa will compete with foreign shipping lines in providing marine assets needed by industrial giants such as Dangote Group or for supporting the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), Olubowale asserted that Africa's next economic battle will be fought through logistics. He noted that the scale of these transformations will generate unprecedented demand for coastal cargo movement, refined petroleum distribution, offshore marine support services, bulk commodity transportation, regional logistics integration, industrial marine supply operations, and strategic shipping support infrastructure.
Way Forward
On the way forward, Olubowale said Africa requires maritime companies capable of building integrated marine logistics systems, strategic tanker and coastal fleet operations, offshore support infrastructures, port-linked industrial supply chains, inland waterways transportation networks, maritime intelligence and safety systems, trade corridor logistics platforms, and regional marine asset management capabilities.
MARASSON Director's Perspective
Also speaking, the Director of International Trade, Maritime Researchers and Authors Association of Nigeria (MARASSON), Sunday Ademuyiwa, said Dangote Petroleum Refinery's expansion is a wake-up call for Nigeria's maritime sector. He said policies remain on paper, while trade routes are poorly protected, with foreign vessels dominating routes that should belong to Nigerian operators. He noted that Dangote Petroleum Refinery had over 600 vessel calls in its first year, which could have created jobs, stimulated indigenous shipping, and boosted marine services for Nigerians.
