Dangote Industries is set to acquire its own vessels as part of efforts to address persistent shipping challenges and reduce the cost of transporting its products to markets across West and Central Africa.

The company said the decision followed difficulties in securing adequate shipping capacity for its exports, while transporting goods by road has proved costly and cumbersome due to multiple border crossings and associated charges.

Osun Election: Immigration Officers Protest Delay In Payment Of Special Duty Allowance

Head of International Trade and Export at Dangote Cement, Sada Ladan-Baki, disclosed this on Tuesday at a seminar on non-oil exports. She said the company had faced significant challenges moving products from Nigeria to other West African countries because of limited access to suitable vessels.

Ladan-Baki recalled that Dangote once struggled to secure a vessel to transport a 1,000-metric-tonne consignment from Nigeria to Ghana, despite the relatively short distance between the two countries.

“We are moving forward towards getting our own ships in order to do this business,” she said.

She explained that road transportation was not a sustainable alternative because goods heading to Ghana must pass through countries such as Benin and Togo, exposing exporters to additional taxes, levies and other charges.

According to her, the additional costs make Nigerian products less competitive in regional markets and constitute a major obstacle to expanding the company’s export operations.

The planned acquisition comes as Dangote’s operations become increasingly dependent on maritime transportation. The company’s $20 billion Lagos refinery has significantly expanded Nigeria’s seaborne petroleum-product trade, with the United States Energy Information Administration reporting a seven-fold increase in Nigeria’s petroleum-product exports by sea since 2023.

The refinery is projected to receive and dispatch approximately 600 vessels annually, including ships transporting crude oil to the facility and vessels carrying refined petroleum products to domestic and international markets.

Reacting to the development, President of the Indigenous Shipping Association of Nigeria, Otunba Shola Adewumi, said Dangote had historically relied heavily on foreign-flagged vessels because Nigeria lacked sufficient ships with the capacity required for its operations.

However, he cautioned that acquiring vessels would only be the beginning, as maintaining and managing ships could present greater challenges.

“It is very easy to buy a ship, but maintaining the ship is a different ball game,” Adewumi said.

He urged Dangote Industries to consider registering the vessels under the Nigerian flag, arguing that doing so would increase Nigeria’s shipping capacity and strengthen the country’s position in the international maritime industry.

The acquisition could also create employment opportunities for Nigerian seafarers and professionals in shipping, logistics and international trade, while giving Dangote greater control over the movement of its products and reducing dependence on foreign shipping operators.