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Nigerian billionaire Aliko Dangote's plans for a deep-sea port at Olokola on Nigeria's Atlantic coast are facing a potential clash with Dubai's DP World, after Ogun State signed a separate agreement with the ports giant for a $7 billion port and economic zone in the same coastal area.
The overlap has drawn attention because the Dangote Group already controls the special purpose vehicle created for the Olokola project. The Olokola Free Trade Zone Co., set up about three years ago by the Dangote Group with the governments of Ogun and Ondo states, is 80% owned by Dangote, with each state holding 10%, Arise News reported in September, citing ThisDay.
A column published on Oct. 11 by the Abuja newspaper 21st Century Chronicle framed the overlap as a test of whether Nigerian governments honor the contracts they have already signed.
Neither the Dangote Group nor the Ogun State government has publicly explained how the two arrangements will fit together.
The DP World deal
DP World signed memorandums of understanding with Ogun State in Paris on Sept. 24 for the Gateway Deep Seaport at Ogun Waterside and the Ogun State Blue Marine Special Economic Zone, covering about 10,000 hectares. Nigeria's presidency put the proposed initial investment at more than $7 billion.
The port is planned with a 4-kilometer berth and an 18-meter draft and is meant to take pressure off the congested Apapa and Tin Can Island ports in Lagos. The projects are expected to create more than 50,000 direct jobs. Further agreements were signed in Ogun in the presence of President Bola Tinubu, DP World said on Oct. 1.
DP World has described the agreements as preliminary, with more technical and commercial work needed before any investment decision.
Days before the Paris signing, ThisDay reported that Ogun was preparing to sign with a UAE-based company even though the state sits on the board of the Dangote-led venture. ThisDay did not name the company. A source quoted by the paper said the move "portends a grand plan to sabotage the already existing MoU" between Ogun and the Dangote Group.
Dangote's Olokola plan
Dangote's own plan covers an industrial enclave of more than 10,000 hectares straddling the border of Ogun and Ondo states, less than 100 kilometers east of Lagos. In May, a Dangote Industries team led by Capt. Jamil Abubakar, managing director for infrastructure and logistics, toured host communities in Ogun Waterside and Ondo's Ilaje area to begin surveys and compensation assessments.
"The Olokola Deep Sea project is a major step in opening up Nigeria's economic potential," Abubakar said at the time.
The port fits into Dangote's goal of building a group with $100 billion in annual revenue by 2030. A port at Olokola could give the group its own gateway outside the crowded Lagos harbors.
Olokola has a long history of stalled projects. A liquefied natural gas plant planned at Olokola with international oil companies never got off the ground. Ogun officials have now opened talks with NNPC Ltd. about reviving it alongside the DP World port.
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