Maersk declines to comment on purported $600m Nigerian investment

The Nigerian government recently claimed that President Bola Tinubu secured an investment of $600 million from Danish shipping and logistics company, A.P Moller-Maersk, to expand existing port infrastructure to accommodate more container shipping services to Nigerian ports.

Officials of Moller-Maersk, however, have declined to comment on the said investment as announced by the Nigerian government, according to a report by England-based shipping publication Lloyd’s Limit.

Nigeria’s presidency in a statement said A.P Moller-Maersk chairman Mr Robert Maersk Uggla pledged during a meeting with President Tinubu on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Sunday.

Tinubu, according to a Nigerian Presidency statement, noted that the proposed investment will complement the government’s ongoing $1 billion investment in seaport reconstruction across the eastern and western seaports of Nigeria.

$600 million investment in Nigeria
The Nigerian government claimed that the investment would aid Nigeria’s port modernization efforts and port process automation through his administration’s implementation of the national single window project to enhance trade, easing import/export flow and reducing corruption.

But despite detailing how Tinubu secured the purported investment, Maersk was mum on the alleged investment plan.

The Nigerian government’s statement quoted Uggla: “We believe in Nigeria, and we will invest $600 million in existing facilities and make the ports accommodating for bigger ships.”

According to LLoyd’s Limit, Maersk said no such commitment was made despite the meeting between the company’s boss and the Nigerian leader.

“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,” Maersk told  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.”

The Nigerian government is yet to speak on the comments by Maersk as of the time of filing this report.