Old video shows Maersk officials explaining $600m Nigerian investment plans

A month-old clip from a meeting between APM Terminals executives and officials of the Nigerian government is gaining traction on social media amid controversies about a $600m investment by the Danish logistics company.

APM Terminals is owned by A.P Molller-Maersk.

On February 9, Nigeria’s Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite, tweeted a video of a meeting with the APM Terminals Global Chief Executive Officer, Keith Svendsen, who spoke about the company’s $600m investment.

In the video, Svendsen said the company had just invested $100 million in its Nigerian business with an additional “half-billion dollars” ($500m) earmarked for port investment in Lagos, Nigeria.

Svendsen also met with Pesident Bola Tinubu on the same day in Abuja. Uzoka-Anite and the minister for marina and blue economy were also at the meeting, according to a statement by the ministry.

The company said it had just completed a $115 million upgrade of its West Africa Container Terminal (WACT) in Onne.

Thereafter, several Nigerian news outlets such as Nairametrics and Businessday reported that Svendsen told the minister of marine and blue economy Gboyega Oyetola that APM Terminals would invest additional $500 million to upgrade its terminals at Apapa Port.

Put together, the proposed APM Terminals’ recent investment in Nigeria would amount to $615 million if the commitment is actioned.

‘Efficient terminals’ 
The company operates two terminals in Nigeria – West Africa Container Terminal (WACT) in Onne – where the company committed a USD 115m upgrade project and the Apapa terminal in Lagos State.

“I was happy to have a productive meeting with President Tinubu and talk about the opportunities and vision that APM Terminals see for the Nigerian port sector,” Svendsen was quoted to have said at the meeting in a post on APM terminal’s LinkedIn page.

“For us in APM Terminals, it is important that we not only operate highly efficient terminals, but also that we play a role contributing to the development of the local communities and bring in opportunities for growth and new prospects for people living in Nigeria,” stated Keith Svendsen after the visit.”

Two months after, the Nigerian government said President Tinubu met A.P Moller-Maersk chairman Mr Robert Maersk Uggla during a meeting on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, last Sunday.

Presidential spokesman Ajuri Ngelale in a statement said Tinubu secured an investment of $600 million to expand existing port infrastructure to accommodate more container shipping services to Nigerian ports.

Ngelale’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.”

It is unclear if this investment is new or the ones Svendsen mentioned when he came to Nigeria in February.

However, the investment became a subject a controversy days after a statement by Maersk suggested that there was no such agreement between the Nigerian president and Maersk. Bayo Onanuga, a spokesman for Tinubu also deleted the statement by Ngelale on X page

“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, a Danish publication.

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