Nigeria’s seaports posted broad-based gains in the second quarter of 2026, with cargo throughput, vessel calls, container handling and vehicle imports all climbing as the federal government’s maritime reform agenda continued to take hold, according to a new operational report from the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA).
The NPA’s Q2 2026 Operational Performance Report showed cargo throughput rising 12.3 percent year-on-year, from 31.8 million metric tonnes in Q2 2025 to 35.7 million metric tonnes this quarter.
Vessel traffic also jumped, with ocean-going vessel calls increasing 14.4 percent, from 1,050 to 1,201, while the gross registered tonnage of those vessels grew 22.2 percent to nearly 50 million tonnes.
NPA Managing Director Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho attributed the gains to the resilience and growing competitiveness of the country’s ports in facilitating trade.
Export activity was a standout in the report, with outward cargo surging 22 percent compared to a more modest 7.7 percent rise in inbound shipments — a trend the NPA described as a sign of improving export performance.
Inward cargo still made up the bulk of total volume at 56.8 percent, against 41.9 percent for outward cargo, while transshipment cargo added 488,364 metric tonnes, roughly 1.4 percent of the total.
Container traffic climbed 11.3 percent to 602,392 TEUs, up from 541,229 TEUs a year earlier. Laden inbound containers rose 6.3 percent and accounted for just over half of all container movement, while laden outbound boxes slipped 3.9 percent and empty containers rose nearly 14 percent.
Transshipment container volume, which registered no activity in the same period last year, reached 29,038 TEUs, evidence, the report said, of Nigeria’s growing role as a regional transshipment hub.
Vehicle imports also strengthened, with 44,147 units processed in Q2 2026 versus 37,306 the year before, a gain of 18.3 percent that the NPA linked to exchange-rate stability boosting auto imports.
Service boat operations rose as well, up 22.3 percent in number and 62.4 percent in tonnage.
Looking ahead, Dantsoho said the NPA’s priority for 2026 is a large-scale infrastructure overhaul paired with digital reforms, centered on modernizing the aging Apapa and Tin Can Island ports alongside new deep-sea developments at Lekki and Badagry and efforts to revitalize Eastern ports and ease congestion in Lagos.
He also pointed to the rollout of the Port Community System, now integrated with the National Single Window launched earlier in the year, as key to cutting bottlenecks and positioning Nigeria as West Africa’s trade hub.
