MARAN President, Onigbinde Calls for Benchmarking of Nigerian Ports Against African Competitors at MAMAL 2026

The President of the Maritime Reporters’ Association of Nigeria(MARAN), Comrade Oluyinka Onigbinde has called for the need to benchmark Nigerian Ports against African Competitors at the association’s 4th Maritime Annual Lecture(MAMAL).

Onigbinde made the call, while speaking on the sidelines of MAMAL event, explaining that the theme- “Nigeria Ports Modernisation, Charges and Competitiveness” was chosen to examine how Nigerian Ports compare with other African Ports, particularly Lomé in Togo and Tema in Ghana, in terms of competitiveness, pricing and vessel turnaround time.

According to him, this has become necessary, following recent approval of the Nigerian Ports Economic Regulatory Agency (NPERA) Act on 13 August 2026, by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

He said the NPERA approval would give the regulator greater ability to act and oversee the activities of shipping companies, terminal operators and freight forwarders.

“It will also strengthen economic regulation of the maritime sector, as stronger economic regulation would increase Nigeria’s ability to compete with other African Ports,” he said.

Despite evidence of improvement in Nigerian Ports, with the Country’s recent ranking among Ports that have improved, the new regulator needs to deliver further improvement, particularly in efficiency, ease of doing business and competitiveness, MARAN President stressed.

Comrade Onigbinde further spotlighted key takeaways from the programme to include: identifying what other West African Ports and Africa countries were doing that Nigeria was not doing; why are cargo going to neighbouring Ports before coming into Nigeria, a situation that shows the country is still missing something in terms of Port competitiveness.

He also identified the cost of doing business at Nigerian ports, which remains high, when compared with other African ports, as another salient issue to be addressed.

The MARAN President said further that MAMAL serves as a platform for constructive dialogue on whether the regulatory framework truly promotes efficiency and attracts cargo, shipping lines and investments.

While commending the guests for the massive turnout, he described their presence at the programme as a strong value, noting and appreciating the keynote speaker, government representatives, CILT leadership and other stakeholders for gracing the event.

“Their presence added great value to our discussions,” he said.

MARAN President also reaffirmed the association’s role as an agenda setter, stressing that MARAN has always set agenda and will continue to do so. “We will continue to focus on topical industry issues, provide platforms where policies are examined, ideas are exchanged and solutions are profererd”.

Onigbinde concluded projecting plans for the fifth edition in 2027, saying MARAN intends to hold the event outside Lagos, with Abuja being considered as host City.