Feature/OPED
Improving the Ease of Doing Business at Lagos Ports
By Timi Olubiyi, PhD
Where problems exist and persist, there are usually opportunities, such is the case of the perennial issues with the Lagos ports where the vessels, trucks, and cargo congestions persist, business opportunities abound.
The Lagos ports; the Apapa and Tin-Can ports, are the busiest in Nigeria and for this reason, congestions exist and cargo remained trapped inside the ports. This situation makes cargo evacuation difficult and this ultimately affects the ease of doing business in the ports and indeed around the ports environment.
These situations continue to hinder trade facilitation, free flow of traffic, and ease of doing business in and around the Apapa area of Lagos State. On the part of vessels calling at Lagos ports, extraordinary delays are suffered due to this congestion and the waiting periods at Terminals continue to exceed 20 days according to findings, which is bad for all known economic reasons.
Findings further indicate that the congestion at the ports is largely due to inadequate and ageing infrastructure, lack of automation, bad roads some of which are currently undergoing repairs, which make trucks remain stuck on roads for long hours and days.
Another significant reason is the state of the rail transport which has forced 90 per cent of cargo to go by road. These challenges are prevalent and from information gathered, some shipping lines sometimes divert Nigeria-bound cargoes to neighbouring ports.
So, with the perennial congestion and with terminal operators running very low on yard space, there is a need for a short to medium-term solution before the government comes up with a lasting resolution to resolve the challenges and ensure free movement of cargoes in and out of the port.
Therefore, opportunities exist in barge operations in the meantime to ease cargo evacuation processes at the Lagos ports. From indications, barge operations have been initiated by maritime regulators to reduce this congestion at the ports but it is high time more attention is paid to it and the benefits thereof.
For readers who are unaware of what a barge is, it is a wide and flat-shaped boat just like a raft built mainly for river and canal transport of bulk goods. The main reason for this particular shape is to ensure that the cargo-carrying capacity is enhanced and more bulk can be hauled and transferred on it.
So, because of its design and usefulness, the usage of barges can convey containers in and out of the ports conveniently.
Therefore, efficient and regulated barge operations can be an effective strategy to resolve the key challenge of congestions at the port and it may drastically reduce the pressure on the roads if adequately regulated and put to use.
In my view, barge operation if harnessed with adequate technology can improve the current situation at the ports particularly with the traffic gridlock in and around Apapa Lagos State.
Without doubts, the use of barge operation can reduce the dwelling time of cargo and turnaround time on vessels calling at the Lagos ports.
Further to this, using barges to evacuate cargo from the ports can become one of the sustainable ways of reducing the burden on Nigerian roads, in the meantime. Without further doubt, if the operation and set-up are done effectively, it can help reduce the overall cargo clearing cost.
In fact, if the services of barge operations are encouraged on our waterways into the hinterland the human and trailer traffic going into the ports will be reduced significantly.
In addition, if barge operation is effectively adopted the capacity of the port to receive more imports would be enhanced and more shipping lines will be encouraged to call at the Lagos ports.
Recall, Nigeria has the population, the market, the businesses and largely because of the import-dependent nature of the economy. Therefore, barge operation can become an important part of intermodal transportation in the country, which is a quick way to ensure seamless cargo evacuation from the ports
Currently, cargo from the ports is moved or evacuated mainly by trucking and a very low and insignificant size is moved by rail, so in the meantime, barge operations can help improve the evacuation technique at the ports.
Even from context observation, a large number of the traffic entering the ports is to deliver empty containers, an alternative to these drop-offs of empty containers can be through barges to the ports without the pressure on the roads and the long queues of articulated trucks at the port entries.
Recall, a truck most time can only transport a single container irrespective of the size of the container, however, a barge can take at least twelve (12) 40-foot containers at once.
Therefore, container barging can form key succour to the current congestion at the ports and promote ease of moving cargoes out of the ports.
A good illustration of how barge operation can be effective can be seen in the arrangement of moving 500 containers out of the Lagos ports in a day. The current situation will require 500 articulated trucks, however, only 42 flat container barges will be required to move the 500 containers to the hinterland, by this technique 500 trucks will be out of the road for that single day barge is considered. This will adequately decongest the port and the roads if the barge service impact is viewed over a week or a year.
In my opinion, the barge operations can easily compliment the already established architecture at the ports and ease the high volume of traffic in and out of the ports.
So, it is safe to say barge operations ought to be part of the architecture of the ports and consideration should be given to improve intermodal transportation around the country.
Considerably, for ease of cargo movement and to further promote ease of doing business at the ports, barge operations will not only assist, it will create jobs and also help to activate more new businesses in that ecosystem.
Port terminal operators (companies that operate terminals) may need to align their operations with that of barge operations and ensure that loading points for barges are created at their various terminals to grow and support this line of business. When a more enabling environment exists, it expands opportunities and such can be achieved at ports with barge operation.
In fact, it will drive job creation, promote more business creation and value-added services within the maritime sector. In reality, it will improve service delivery and the business competitiveness at the ports, truckers and haulage companies will eventually be challenged to innovate, reduce charges and improve on service delivery time.
In conclusion, there is a need to reduce the dwell time of cargo at the ports from twenty-one 21 days to the regional average of seven (7) days and also achieve efficient trade facilitation and ease of doing business at the ports, one of the ways to achieve this in the meantime will be through the use of barge services, in my view.
Therefore, to support this cause, key stakeholders in the maritime sector, regulators, government agencies: National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA; Nigerian Shippers Council, NSC; Nigeria Port Authority, NPA; Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA; Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Police, and Lagos State Waterways Authority, LASWA need to work on the barge operation regulations, licensing and registration, market entry and exit modalities, setting service minimum standards and standardization, security, safety, insurance, tariffs, pricing, and others to ensure stable operations of barges in the country. Good luck and God bless Nigeria!
How may you obtain advice or further information on the article?
Dr Timi Olubiyi is an Entrepreneurship & Business Management expert with a PhD in Business Administration from Babcock University Nigeria. He is a prolific investment coach, seasoned scholar, Chartered Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI), and Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) registered capital market operator. He can be reached on the Twitter handle @drtimiolubiyi and via email: dr***********@***il.com, for any questions, reactions, and comments.
By Louis Strydom
Last year, I argued in my piece Lean Carbon, Just Power that a limited and temporary increase in African carbon emissions is justified to meet the continent’s urgent electrification needs.
That position was not a retreat from climate ambition. It laid out a credible lean-carbon pathway that reconciles power systems development realities with climate arithmetic.
The central question remains: not whether emissions must fall, but how much temporary headroom is tolerable to accelerate energy prosperity for a continent responsible for roughly 4% of global CO2.
The flexibility equation
The future of Africa’s electrification is neither “all renewables tomorrow” nor “gas indefinitely”. Intermittent renewables alone cannot power the continent’s fragile grids at scale. Solar and wind require highly dispatchable power capacity to ensure the reliability of the system.
The real choice is not between renewables and fossil fuels in the abstract; it is between flexible firm power that complements solar and wind, and the de facto alternative: the increasing reliance on high-emissions diesel backup and widespread grid instability.
I argue that a realistic transition strategy must embrace “a capped carbon overdraft”: a strictly bounded, time-limited deployment of flexible power plants running on gas that supports the deployment of renewables and declines according to a binding schedule. This strategy means accepting minimal, temporary emissions to allow for a faster, cleaner and more resilient clean transition.
The response to this argument drew serious scrutiny. Three objections deserve a direct answer.
First: Does the case for flexible thermal power hold on a full life cycle basis?
It does. Our power system studies in Nigeria, Mozambique, and Southern Africa consistently reach the same conclusion – the least-cost long-term system is renewables-led, with flexible engines balancing variability. That holds across capital, fuel, maintenance, carbon pricing, and decommissioning. South Africa’s Integrated Resource Plan 2025, approved in October, makes the point concretely: it projects 105 GW of new capacity by 2039 with renewables as backbone, yet includes 6 GW of gas-to-power by 2030 explicitly for grid stability. Even the continent’s most industrialised economy concludes it needs dispatchable thermal capacity to underpin a renewables-heavy system. The question is not whether firm power is needed, but how to make it as clean and flexible as possible.
Second: Does this argument talk over Africa’s ambition to leapfrog fossil fuels?
No. It is designed around that ambition. Wärtsilä launched the world’s first large-scale 100% hydrogen-ready engine power plant concept in 2024, certified by TÜV SÜD, with orders opening in 2025. Ammonia engine tests now demonstrate up to 90% greenhouse gas reductions versus diesel. These are not roadmaps. They are ready-to-use technologies. The honest difficulty is timing. Sub-Saharan grids averaged 56 hours of monthly outages in 2024. The African diesel generator market is growing at nearly 7% a year, projected to reach 1.3 billion dollars by 2030. Nigerian businesses spend up to 40% of operational costs on fuel for backup power. That is the real counterfactual – not a continent neatly powered by sun and wind, but a billion-dollar diesel habit deepening every year the grid stays unreliable. Even Germany is tendering 10 GW of hydrogen-ready gas plants with mandated conversion by 2035 to 2040. If Europe’s largest economy needs transitional thermal flexibility to backstop an 80% renewables target, insisting low-income African nations skip that step is not climate leadership. It is development deferred.
Third: Does the carbon comparison include full life cycle methane?
It must. Methane leakage materially worsens the climate profile of gas-to-power because methane is a far more potent greenhouse gas than CO₂. If leakage exceeds a few per cent of production, gas loses its advantage over coal on a 20-year timeframe.
But the IEA notes that 40% of fossil methane emissions could be eliminated at no net cost with existing technology. My claim that gas has a lower footprint than coal is conditional on aggressive methane management – eliminating flaring and venting, enforcing measurement under frameworks like the EU Methane Regulation and OGMP 2.0. Without those conditions, the arithmetic fails. But the real choice in most African markets is not between pristine gas and pristine renewables. It is between ageing coal, a growing fleet of unregulated diesel generators, and new fuel-flexible plants that start or transition to gas and convert to hydrogen or ammonia on a contractual schedule. Displacing diesel and coal with well-managed gas in future-fuel-ready engines cuts CO₂, local pollution, and water use now, while building the infrastructure for fuels that eliminate fossil dependence.
The critics are right to demand rigour, full life cycle accounting, methane transparency, and credible timelines. Those are exactly the conditions that make a lean-carbon pathway work. Africa does not seek permission to pollute. It seeks the tools to end energy poverty while peaking emissions early and declining fast. Build engine power plants that run on available fuel today. Mandate their conversion tomorrow. The carbon overdraft stays small. The payback stays fast. And the technology to switch to sustainable fuels is already here.
Louis Strydom is the Director of Growth and Development for Africa and Europe at Wärtsilä Energy
You’re back home after mudik (homecoming), the suitcases are unpacked, and the excitement of being with family for Eid already feels like a long time ago. But just because Eid is over doesn’t mean the special connection of being with family has to fade. Here are the best group chat features for beating the post-Raya blues.
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Keep The Vibe Going by Sharing Ramadan Highlights
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Keep the Memories Rolling with Status: Your Status feed doesn’t have to go quiet just because you’re back home. Post the most memorable throwback photos from the Eid reunion and add questions to spark responses like “What was your favourite Raya dish?” Add music and stickers to Status to keep the energy alive.
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Express Yourself with Text Stickers: Turn inside jokes, family slogans, or a favourite Eid quote into a Text Sticker. It’s a quick, personalised way to add some warmth and humour to the group chat.
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Skip the Stock Cards, Use Meta AI for a Personal Touch: Don’t just send a generic “Hi” or “Good morning” in the family chat. Use Meta AI to make your personalised greeting card or quickly transform a single photo into an animated image to send a heartfelt, animated check-in.
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Schedule The Next Reunion
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Plan Your Next Post-Raya Get-Together: The blues often hit when the fun ends. Keep spirits up by creating a new Event in the group chat right away. Add event reminders so everyone doesn’t miss the opportunity to connect.
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Schedule a Call, Don’t Just Say “Call Me”: Carry on the family tradition of staying connected, even when you’re miles apart. Tap + then Schedule a call in the Calls tab to lock in a regular “Post-Raya Check-in” video call. Send a reminder so everyone can join on time.
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Keep the Raya Spirit Alive by Getting Everyone Involved
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Assign yourself a fun “tag” in the family group: Are you the one who always ends up cooking? Or the one who plans the itinerary for family trips? Or the master of GIFs who keeps everyone amused? Use the Member Tag feature in the group to give yourself a witty, funny, or practical role—”Next Event Planner” or “Tech Support Guru,” maybe?. Member tags can be customised for each group you’re in.
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Share a Spontaneous ‘I Miss You’ Video: Did you just see something that reminded you of the reunion? Press and hold the camera icon to record a spontaneous Video Notes message. It’s faster than typing and instantly brings warmth and real-time emotion back into the group.
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Digital Hugs: Making the Long-Distance Moment Count
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Share a Moving Memory: Don’t just send a still photo. Share a Live or Motion Photo to capture the ambient sound and movement of a recent Eid moment. It makes your memories feel more vivid, personal, and real—a perfect antidote to feeling disconnected.
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Your Group Chat Background: Create a vibe with Meta AI: Don’t settle for a plain background for your family group chat. Use Meta AI to generate unique, custom chat wallpapers that reflect something uniquely memorable to your family: be it food, travel or a sport that unites everyone. Every time you open the chat, you’ll feel the warmth, not the distance.
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Make Sure No One Misses Out
No More FOMO: Send the Conversation History: Just added a family member who couldn’t make it to mudik? When adding a new member, you can now send up to 100 recent messages with the Group Message History feature. No need to recap; let them catch up instantly and feel included from the first tap.
By Olumide Balogun
Nigerians are natural explorers. Whether finding the best supplier in Balogun market, hunting down a recipe for party jollof, or looking for the most affordable flight out of Lagos, we are always searching.
Today, human curiosity is expanding, and the way Nigerians express it is evolving. We are speaking to our phones, snapping photos of things we like, and asking incredibly complex questions. For the Nigerian business owner, understanding this shift is a massive opportunity to get discovered by eager customers.
Here are four ways AI is rewriting how Nigerians search, along with simple steps to ensure your business is exactly what they find.
1. Visual Discovery is the New Normal
People are increasingly using their cameras to discover the world around them. Picture someone spotting a brilliant pair of sneakers in traffic and wanting to know exactly where to buy them. Today, shoppers simply take out their phones and search visually.
Tools like Google Lens now process over 25 billion visual searches every single month, and many of these searches are from people looking to make a purchase.
How to adapt: Your product’s visual appeal is paramount. Make sure you upload clear, high-quality images of your products to your website and social media. When a customer snaps a picture of a bag that looks like the one you sell, having great photos ensures your business pops up in their visual search results.
2. Conversations Replace Simple Keywords
Shoppers are asking highly nuanced, conversational questions. They are typing queries like, “Where can I find affordable leather shoes in Ikeja that are open on Sundays and do home delivery?”
To handle these detailed questions, new features like AI Overviews act like a superfast librarian that has read everything on the web. It provides users with a perfectly organised summary and links to dig deeper.
How to adapt: Answer your customers’ questions before they even ask. Create detailed, helpful content on your website and fully update your Google Business Profile. List your opening hours, delivery areas, and unique services clearly. This ensures the technology easily finds your details and recommends your business when a customer asks a highly specific question.
3. Intent Matters More Than Exact Words
Predicting every single word a customer might use to find your product is a huge task for any business owner. Thankfully, modern search technology focuses on the underlying need behind a search.
If someone searches for “how to bring small dogs on flights,” AI understands that the person likely needs to buy an airline-approved pet carrier. The technology looks at the true intent of the shopper.
How to adapt: You no longer need to obsess over guessing exact keywords. By using AI-powered campaigns, you allow the technology to understand your products and match them to the customer’s true needs. Your business will show up for highly relevant searches, bringing you customers who are actively looking for solutions you provide.
4. Smart Assistants Handle the Heavy Lifting
Running a business in Nigeria requires incredible hustle. Managing digital marketing on top of daily operations takes significant time and energy. The next frontier in digital advertising introduces agentic capabilities, which hold a simple promise of delivering better results for your business with much less effort.
The technology now acts as your personalised assistant.
How to adapt: You can simplify your marketing by using the Power Pack of AI-driven campaigns, including Performance Max. You simply provide your business goals, your budget, and your creative assets like photos and videos. The AI automatically finds new, high-value customers across Google Search, YouTube, and the web. It adapts your ads in real time to match exactly what the shopper is looking for, allowing you to focus on running your business.
The language of curiosity is constantly expanding. Nigerians are discovering brands in entirely new ways using cameras, voice notes, and highly specific questions. By understanding these behaviours and embracing helpful AI tools, you can let the technology connect eager customers directly to your digital doorstep.
Olumide Balogun is a Director at Google West Africa
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