The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has presented a bold plan for the 2026 fiscal year, seeking the National Assembly’s green light to commit 62 percent of its internally generated revenue (IGR) to capital expenditure (CapEx).
The proposal was tabled at a recent budget defence hearing conducted by the Senate Committee on Marine Transport.
During the session, NPA Managing Director/CEO, Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho provided an update on the previous year’s results, indicating that the authority had collected 82 percent of the revenue it generated in the 2025 fiscal year.
Following the dedication of 38 percent of those funds to capital projects, the organization transferred more than ₦700 billion to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).
Persecondnews reports that the Capital Expenditure, commonly known as CapEx, refers to the funds NPA invests in long-term assets rather than day-to-day operations.
This includes major upgrades to physical infrastructure, acquisition of modern equipment, and technology enhancements that extend the useful life and capacity of port facilities.
In the NPA’s proposed 2026 budget, allocating 62 percent of internally generated revenue to CapEx — up from 38 percent utilized in 2025 — signals a deliberate shift toward aggressive modernization, with the goal of turning Nigeria’s ports into more competitive gateways for international trade.
Without sufficient CapEx, Nigerian ports risk congestion and shallow drafts that limit ship sizes and cargo volumes. Increased spending directly addresses these bottlenecks, enabling higher throughput, faster vessel turnaround times, and reduced waiting periods — issues that have historically plagued Lagos and other ports, driving up demurrage and detention charges for importers and exporters.
Economically, robust CapEx spending creates a multiplier effect.
Modernized ports attract more shipping lines, increase cargo volumes, generate higher revenue over time, and support job creation in ancillary sectors such as trucking, warehousing, and manufacturing.
For Nigeria, a country heavily reliant on seaborne trade for 90 percent of its imports and exports, this translates to lower logistics costs, improved supply-chain reliability, and stronger contributions to GDP.
Trade facilitation improves as ports become more reliable, encouraging foreign direct investment and helping diversify the economy beyond oil.
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