Nigeria’s latest port program names four existing facilities for upgrades and six deep-sea sites for development, while leaving Onitsha River Port unmentioned as reports offer no verified measure of its cargo scale.
Onitsha River Port is an inland facility in Anambra State. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) has reported a barge arrival and customs cargo activity there, but neither account provides cargo-volume figures.
On Sept. 27, Marine and Blue Economy Minister Adegboyega Oyetola said the Federal Government approved upgrades at Onne and Rivers ports in Rivers State, Delta Port and Calabar Port. He described the approvals as additional to earlier approvals for Apapa and Tin Can Island in Lagos. Oyetola said the upgrades are intended to expand freight-handling capacity, shorten the time vessels spend in port and strengthen regional connections. The announcement gave no project-level budgets or schedules.
Oyetola also named the Ibom, Bakassi, Agge, Gateway, Ondo and Bonny deep-sea ports for development. Separately, Ogun State, DP World and Ogun Deep Sea Port Company Ltd. signed memorandums of understanding on Sept. 25 for a proposed Gateway port and a 10,000-hectare special economic zone.
The Federal Ministry of Information and National Orientation projected more than $7 billion in initial investment and more than 50,000 direct jobs at full development. It said the proposed port would have a four-kilometer berth and an 18-meter draft. DP World said the agreements would evaluate the proposed port and zone; its release did not announce a construction or financing commitment.
The Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) said the government reached commercial close on a 30-year Onitsha concession with Universal Elysium Consortium on July 1, 2022. The commission put expected investment above ₦4 billion and said the project was expected to ease pressure on roads. Financial close was the next step at the time.
NAN reported that Onitsha River Port Manager Martins Osazuwa said a barge carrying tiles from Ajaokuta, Kogi State, berthed at the port in 2025, its first barge arrival that year. Osazuwa cited insecurity, low patronage and delays in dredging the Niger River as constraints. In May 2026, NAN quoted trade consultant Okey Ibeke describing the port as active for customs cargo. Ibeke also cited inadequate dredging, limited barge capacity and poor road links.
A 2010 World Bank project appraisal identified dredging needs, security and institutional issues involving the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) among the project’s risks. The Federal Government’s September announcement gave no Onitsha-specific upgrade or timetable. The ICRC’s 2022 notice named financial close as the next step at the time, without assigning a date.
