Exporters raise the alarm over container shortage at Lagos ports

The Association of West African Exporters and Marine Professionals has warned that the worsening scarcity of shipping containers at Lagos ports is threatening the country’s export sector, which is valued at $44.06bn as of 2025.

This is even as the group lamented the refusal of shipping lines to pick export cargoes, a development they said is undermining Nigeria’s growing export market.

The President of AWAEMAP, Bunmi Olumekun, stated this in a recent chat with journalists in Lagos. The warning comes as Nigeria’s export sector has recorded significant momentum under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration.

In February, The PUNCH reported that Nigeria’s total exports in the first nine months of 2025 outpaced the corresponding period of 2024 by $3.76bn. The figures feed into the improving local currency amid calls for inclusive gains for businesses and households.

Data from the Central Bank of Nigeria Quarterly Statistics (December 2025) showed that the country’s total exports in the first nine months of 2025 rose to $44.06bn, an improvement over the $40.29bn recorded in the corresponding period of 2024.

However, Olumekun warned that deliberate actions by foreign shipping lines are now putting those gains at risk.

“The shipping companies don’t even bring vessels to Nigeria to take exports again. They prefer to go to Cotonou rather than coming to Nigeria. They want to make sure that Nigerian goods are not sellable outside Nigeria. You will see a vessel coming in to discharge cargoes and sail empty to Cotonou to carry exports,” he said.

The AWAEMAP president said export cargoes are now piling up inside terminals across the Lagos ports, with no vessels available to evacuate them and no containers to load intended exports.

“Currently, we are having a challenge getting containers to load our export cargoes out of the country. Currently, we have more export than import cargoes lying inside the terminals. Somebody told me that his export containers of perishable items have been at the port since December 2025, and there is no vessel to evacuate them,” Olumekun stated.

He said the problem is further compounded by a lack of space at the terminals to accommodate export containers, adding that the situation has triggered congestion that plagued Lagos ports before the introduction of the e-call-up system.

The AWAEMAP president also raised concerns that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East could provide foreign shipping lines with additional justification to avoid Nigerian ports, further worsening the situation.

Despite the setbacks, Olumekun acknowledged the progress recorded under the current administration. “Under President Bola Tinubu, the Nigerian economy is improving in terms of export, but these foreigners want to cripple it,” he said.

Olumekun called on the Federal Government to urgently address the container scarcity.

Also speaking, an exporter who is the Managing Director of LWL Concept, Lawal Wasiu, said, “One of the challenges we are facing at the port right now is so many empty containers with no vessel to pick them up. And one big reason for that is the Iran-US war, which has affected the routes these ships follow. For example, some shipping lines have cancelled any Middle East consignment because of the war.

“So there are so many containers laden with exports, as we speak, that are still at the port waiting for vessels to come. Some terminal operators have stopped accepting export containers. Even transporters now do not want to drop empty containers at the ports because of the delay. So this is also causing the scarcity of empty containers.”(Punch)