Africa Intelligence: Tinubu Has Picked Gilbert Chagoury for $700m Lagos Ports Renovation Project

Emmanuel Addeh in Abuja

A new report by Africa Intelligence, a specialised publication that publishes exclusive information on the continent, has indicated that the contract for renovation of Lagos ports has been awarded to ITB Nigeria, a company owned by the Lebanese-Nigerian, Gilbert Chagoury.

According to the report, the close associate of President Bola Tinubu is set to embark on another major new project in the African megalopolis, after it was awarded the “controversial” Lagos-Calabar coastal highway.

Tracking the process leading to the handing over of the contract, Africa Intelligence stated that there had been very little doubt in recent weeks in Lagos about which firm would bag the $700 million contract to renovate the city’s two main ports, Tin Can and Apapa.

It stated that the Nigerian government, in a meeting in early February with the Federal Executive Council (FEC), duly chose Chagoury Group, and its subsidiary ITB Nigeria, headed by Ramzi Chidiac.

“Despite the group’s lack of experience in the port sector, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who had the final say on the matter, decided to once again place his trust in his ‘confidant’, the Lebanese-Nigerian billionaire Gilbert Chagoury,” the report added.

Africa Intelligence said ITB Nigeria did not respond to its request for comment.

The contract for the expansive port project now appears to be taking the form of a similar one given to Hitech Construction Company Ltd., owned by Gilbert Chagoury. The Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway, which the Chagoury group is handling, is a significant infrastructure project aimed at enhancing connectivity along Nigeria’s southern corridor.

Spanning approximately 700 kilometres, the highway will traverse several states, including Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, and Cross River, culminating in Calabar. The selection process for the road has been a topic of discussion since its award.

But the federal government clarified that Hitech was chosen to handle the road project costing over N15 trillion, due to its expertise in concrete paving—a crucial requirement for the project, especially in areas with high water tables.

Minister of Works, David Umahi, recently highlighted that Hitech’s prior experience, notably the successful reconstruction of the Oworonshoki-Apapa Road, demonstrated its capability in concrete road construction.

Despite all the pushback on the Lagos-Calabar project, the government has insisted that the procurement process adhered to Nigerian laws, employing methods such as restrictive procurement, selective/competitive bidding, and open bidding.

However, the road infrastructure project continues to face criticism from various quarters. Concerns have been raised about the transparency of the contract award and the potential environmental and social impacts of the highway’s construction.

But the new report stated that the work, which the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said would begin in the second quarter of 2025, will be financed by a loan from Nigeria’s Citibank and backed by UK Export Finance, Britain’s official export credit agency.

In addition, Afreximbank had offered its services, and APM Terminals, a subsidiary of the Danish maritime giant, Maersk, and operator of the port of Apapa, offered an investment of $500 million in January 2024.

The offer is still on the table of NPA, which has been headed since July by Abubakar Dantsoho, the Africa Intelligence report added,

Chagoury is also seeking to impose Dubai-based DP World as a new port operator in Lagos. Tinubu met with the firm’s boss, Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, in Abuja on February 26, along with Chagoury and Marine and Blue Economy Minister Adegboyega Oyetola, who is a cousin of the president. 

Africa Intelligence said DP World had in recent months been mulling boosting its presence in Nigeria, and Lagos, in particular, stating that Nigerian Vice President Kashim Shettima met with bin Sulayem last September on the side-lines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

DP World told Africa Intelligence in October that they were “considering investment in ports and infrastructure development opportunities” and “should a suitable opportunity arise in Nigeria” they “will consider it”.

The report added, “The situation is being monitored by the various operators already present in Lagos, such as APM Terminals, whose concession for Apapa will end in 2031, and by those present in the port of Tin Can, where some concessions are already available.

“The two sites account for most of Lagos’s port activity, with the rest handled by Lekki port, operated by CMA Terminals, a subsidiary of France’s CMA CGM, which is owned by Rodolphe Saadé. Thanks to a clause in his contract with the NPA, Saadé has ensured that no new port that can receive containers coming directly from abroad will be built before December 2028.”

Lagos ports are among the most expensive in the world, the report stressed, but they are, nonetheless, a major destination for any company wanting to develop its involvement in Africa.

Despite Nigeria’s economic problems and the stiff fees levied by the various port regulatory agencies and customs, the maritime giants want to remain or establish their presence there, whatever the cost, the report said.

APM Terminals, for example, paid almost a billion dollars in 2006 to obtain a 25-year concession for the port of Apapa, it recalled.

Africa Intelligence stated, “Gilbert Chagoury is omnipresent in Nigeria’s economic capital, where he lives for part of the year.  His firms are involved in building the main thoroughfares in the Victoria Island and Ikoyi areas, and in the creation of the Eko Atlantic district, a mammoth project that began in 2007.

“In 2024, the billionaire bagged a contract to build a motorway linking Lagos to the city of Calabar in the far southeast, a project estimated to cost nearly $11 billion. Despite various controversies, lorries and diggers bearing the logo of Hitech Construction Co, another of his companies, are already hard at work on Landmark beach to build the first section linking Eko Atlantic to Lekki port.

“The links between the Chagoury family and the Tinubu clan are numerous. The president’s son, Oluwaseyi Tinubu, known as Seyi Tinubu, is on the board of CDK Integrated Industries, another subsidiary of the Chagoury group.

“President Tinubu has since taking office in 2023 awarded numerous contracts to the Lebanese-Nigerian businessman, who backed him during his election campaign and is expected to play a major role in his bid for re-election in 2027.”

In April 2020, after nearly 40 years of reporting, Africa Intelligence became a daily publication to, according to the news medium, better reflect the rapid and complex developments taking place on the continent.