Tinubu Woos Investors as Ogun’s $7bn Deep-Sea Port Project Takes Shape

By George Omagbemi

A major project designed to transform Ogun State’s maritime and industrial economy has taken a significant step forward; but in an unusual setting: the agreement for the proposed Gateway Deep Sea Port was signed in Paris, France, thousands of kilometres from the Ogun coastline where the project will eventually stand.

The Ogun State Government and global ports and logistics operator DP World signed Memoranda of Understanding for the development of the Gateway Deep Sea Port at Ogun Waterside and the 10,000-hectare Ogun State Blue Marine Special Economic Zone. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu witnessed the ceremony, with Governor Dapo Abiodun leading the Ogun delegation.

The Paris location gives the agreement an international investment character, bringing together Ogun’s government, federal officials, DP World and other investment partners around projects expected to attract more than $7 billion in initial investment and create over 50,000 direct jobs when fully developed.

The proposed Gateway Deep Sea Port will have a four-kilometre berth and an 18-metre draft, allowing it to accommodate larger vessels and help ease pressure on the Lagos port corridor, including Apapa and Tin Can Island ports.

For Tinubu, the projects are also part of a wider strategy to strengthen Nigeria’s maritime economy, expand manufacturing and improve the country’s position as a gateway to African and global markets.

The President assured investors of regulatory clarity, policy stability and a predictable business environment, while promising federal support for road, rail and power connectivity, investment security and maritime infrastructure.

The port will be integrated with the Blue Marine Special Economic Zone, where imported inputs are expected to be transformed into finished products and Nigerian raw materials processed for export.

Abiodun described the development as the revival of a deep-seaport ambition that had remained largely unrealised for more than three decades, while stressing that the real test would be implementation.

The unusual Paris signing has therefore brought an Ogun project onto an international investment stage.

The next story will not be where the agreement was signed, but whether the commitments made in Paris translate into a functioning port, industries, jobs and economic activity on the Ogun coast.