Tinubu lied, we didn’t promise to inject $600m in Nigerian seaports — Maersk

A $600 million investment into Nigeria’s port sector from Maersk, announced personally by president Bola Tinubu on Sunday, appears to be less true than the government initially claimed.

Recall that in a tweet that has since been taken down, Bayo Onuguga, special adviser on information and strategy to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, posted about a $600 million deal.

The tweet falsely stated that Nigeria had secured a $600 million investment in seaport infrastructure from A.P. Moller-Maersk.

Despite a presidential statement detailing how Mr Tinubu had secured the purported investment during a World Economic Forum meeting in Riyadh over the weekend, Maersk officials have confirmed that no such agreement is in place and no deals have been signed.

Maersk maintained that such deal does not exist.

Company officials said while Uggla did meet the president, no such deal had been signed.

“Maersk has been present in Nigeria for 35 years and, as a global provider of logistics services, we remain committed to develop opportunities for growth to people, the port sector and businesses locally,” the company said in a statement to Lloyd’s List.

“Therefore, it is natural to have an ongoing dialogue with the administration. However, we are not able to comment on any investment talks.”

Meanwhile, Maersk is due to report first-quarter results on Thursday, meaning that management are in a regulatory quiet period limiting what they can say openly about the company’s activities.

Nigeria has promised to revamp its ports, including in the commercial capital Lagos, to ease congestion.

Tinubu’s statement explained that his government would support the modernisation and automation of its ports to improve trade, reduce corruption and boost efficiency.

He claimed that the purported Maersk investment would “complement the administration’s ongoing $1bn investment in seaport reconstruction across the eastern and western seaports of Nigeria”.

“A bet on Nigeria is a winning bet. It is also a bet that rewards beyond what is obtainable elsewhere,” he said.

“We need to encourage more opportunities for revenue expansion and minimise trans-shipments from larger ships to smaller ships.”