Dantsoho Advocates Stronger Cooperation to Boost African Port Competitiveness

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, has called for greater regional integration and cooperation among littoral and island states in West and Central Africa to address challenges in port operations, enhance trade facilitation, and eliminate barriers hindering the region’s full maritime potential.

Dr Dantsoho, who also serves as President of the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA), made the appeal during the 45th Annual Council Meeting and 20th Roundtable of Managing Directors held in Pointe-Noire, Republic of Congo.

He emphasised that PMAWCA and other stakeholders are duty-bound to unite and harness regional resources to overcome socio-economic obstacles and promote shared prosperity.

The event, themed “Reinventing Port Zones Management: Towards Sustainable and Resilient Valorisation of Port Infrastructure, Tackling Economic and Environmental Challenges”, was opened by the Prime Minister of the Republic of Congo, Anatole Collinet Makosso, and attracted more than 350 delegates and experts from across Africa and beyond.

In his remarks, Dantsoho praised PMAWCA’s continued role as a platform for regional collaboration among ports in West and Central Africa.

He noted that the region’s maritime endowment remains a key resource that must be strategically developed.

However, he lamented the lack of resilient infrastructure, which he said has weakened competitiveness, slowed growth, and increased economic vulnerability.

“Infrastructure is undoubtedly an area in which port operations in Africa require significant intervention through cooperation,” he stated.

Dantsoho explained that his administration is particularly focused on advancing initiatives around climate and energy, data collaboration, and risk and resilience.

He called for the formulation and implementation of robust policies to ensure the optimal use of marine resources for regional economic growth.

Represented by the NPA’s General Manager of Corporate and Strategic Communications, Ikechukwu Onyemekara, Dantsoho urged port operators and maritime stakeholders to transform their comparative advantages into opportunities that promote collective prosperity across the region.

He highlighted the shared destiny, common developmental challenges, and abundant human and natural resources that unite countries in West and Central Africa.

Through PMAWCA’s technical committees and panel sessions, he said, the association would continue to promote dialogue and action on climate change, digitalisation, environmental performance, business continuity, and crisis management.

He reaffirmed PMAWCA’s commitment — first made at the 2025 World Port Conference in Kobe, Japan—to pursue a three-pronged strategy of policy implementation, renewed collaboration and trade facilitation aimed at strengthening inter- and intra-regional cooperation.

Dantsoho urged delegates to view themselves as custodians of Africa’s maritime future, stressing that the sector is central not only to trade facilitation but also to the continent’s broader integration and development.

He commended the Government and people of the Republic of Congo, as well as the Port Authority of Pointe-Noire, for hosting the meeting at a time when regional unity is vital for achieving collective economic advancement.

He also expressed appreciation to all stakeholders, institutional partners, and international observers for their participation, and praised PMAWCA’s secretariat for sustaining the annual platform for collaboration, knowledge exchange, and the promotion of global trade.

Other speakers at the conference included the Mayor of Pointe-Noire, Evelynne TchitChelle, and the Director-General of the Autonomous Port of Pointe-Noire, Bhalat Seraphin, among others.