President and Chief Executive of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, has raised concerns over the shortage of port infrastructure across Africa, Particularly in West and Central Africa, urging governments to create an enabling environment for private sector investment in the maritime sector.

Dangote made this known during the flag-off of the Mid-Year Session of the Board of Directors of the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA) held in Victoria Island, Lagos.

The event, with the theme “Ports of the Future: Combining Logistical Resilience with Inclusive Community Development,” brought together key maritime stakeholders from across the region.

According to Dangote, inadequate port facilities and operational bottlenecks in several African countries are negatively affecting business operations and trade efficiency.

“We continue to encourage people to come and invest because really we are running short of ports, especially in West and Central Africa,” he said.

The businessman disclosed that in some countries, including Côte d’Ivoire, vessels are forced to wait for weeks before gaining access to ports.

“In some areas where we go to restart our ports, especially in Côte d’Ivoire, I think we wait for three weeks. It is making our business very difficult,” Dangote stated.

He maintained that governments should leave port development to private investors while concentrating on regulation and revenue collection.

“Government has no business in investing in ports. What you need to do is actually to encourage entrepreneurs to invest heavily so that your own revenues will increase. You should be good at collecting revenues, not building ports,” he added.

Dangote revealed that the Dangote Group was already making moves to expand its investments in port infrastructure, noting that the company plans to develop what he described as the largest and deepest seaport in Africa.

“We have announced that we are building Olokola Lekki Port. We are going to build the biggest port in Africa as soon as we get approval,” he said.

He further disclosed that discussions had recently been concluded with the President of Tanzania on plans to develop another port project in the country.

“We just concluded two days ago with the President of Tanzania. We want to also build another port. Now we’re taking ports as our own business,” he said.

Dangote explained that the group initially ventured into port operations to support its industrial activities but has now identified the maritime sector as a strategic area for expansion across Africa.

He assured stakeholders in the maritime industry of the Dangote Group’s continued support towards improving port infrastructure and boosting trade facilitation. (The Nation)