Lekki Deep Seaport displaces Tin Can as Nigeria’s No. 2 port by trade
15 December, 2025
Lekki Deep Sea Port is rapidly reshaping Nigeria’s maritime trade landscape, emerging as the country’s second most important port by trade value just three years after operations began.
New trade data for the first nine months of 2025 show that Lekki has overtaken long-established ports such as Tin Can Island and Port Harcourt (Onne) in both imports and exports, signalling a structural shift in how goods move in and out of Africa’s largest economy.
The figures, drawn from Nigeria’s “Trade by Top 10 Posts/Ports of Operation” tables for Q1, Q2 and Q3 2025, highlight Lekki’s growing dominance, particularly on the import side, where it is now clearly entrenched as the second-largest gateway after Apapa Port.
The combined trade figures put Lekki Deep Sea Port’s rise into sharp relief. Between Q1 and Q3 2025, Lekki handled an estimated N13.46 trillion in total trade, combining imports and exports, making it Nigeria’s second-largest port by trade value, well ahead of Tin Can Island’s N9.31 trillion and almost double the N6.76 trillion recorded at Port Harcourt (Onne).
While Apapa Port remains dominant with about N74.78 trillion in total trade, Lekki has clearly emerged as the only port operating at a scale large enough to act as a genuine secondary hub.
Notably, Lekki’s trade is also more balanced, with imports of N7.39 trillion and exports of N6.07 trillion, underscoring its growing role as both a supply gateway and an export platform rather than a one-sided, import-heavy port.
Lekki’s rapid ascent in imports
By the end of the third quarter of 2025, Lekki Deep Sea Port recorded N7.39 trillion in imports year-to-date, placing it firmly behind only Apapa Port, which handled N22.21 trillion over the same period.
A breakdown of the quarterly data shows a consistent and accelerating trend:
Q1 2025: N1.70 trillion
Q2 2025: N2.51 trillion
Q3 2025: N3.18 trillion
This steady rise contrasts with the flatter performance of legacy ports.
Tin Can Island, for example, recorded N5.83 trillion in imports YTD, well below Lekki’s total, while Port Harcourt (Onne) stood at N3.81 trillion.
The significance of Lekki’s import growth goes beyond headline rankings.
It reflects a gradual rerouting of high-value cargo, especially containerised and industrial imports, away from congested Lagos legacy ports toward a facility designed from inception for scale, automation, and larger vessels.
Exports tell the same story, but with a time lag
While Lekki’s import dominance is now clear, its export story is slightly more recent but equally telling.
Between Q1 and Q3 2025, Lekki handled N6.07 trillion in exports, making it the second-largest export port in Nigeria, behind only Apapa Port’s N52.57 trillion.
The quarterly export trajectory shows just how quickly the port is scaling:
Q1 2025: N303.6 billion
Q2 2025: N2.41 trillion
Q3 2025: N3.36 trillion
In Q1, Lekki was still a marginal export hub. By Q3, it had become a core conduit for outbound trade, overtaking Tin Can Island and narrowing the gap with Port Harcourt (Onne).
This pattern is consistent with how deep-sea ports mature globally: imports ramp up first as shipping lines and consignees adjust routes, while exports follow once exporters reorganise logistics, storage, and customs processes around the new hub.
Apapa remains dominant, but the centre of gravity is shifting
Apapa Port continues to dominate Nigeria’s trade, accounting for over N52.6 trillion in exports and N22.2 trillion in imports in the first nine months of 2025.
However, the data suggest that Apapa’s dominance is increasingly relative rather than absolute.
Lekki’s growth is not coming at the expense of total trade volumes but is instead absorbing incremental growth in Nigeria’s imports and exports.
In practical terms, new cargo volumes, especially those linked to industrial inputs, refined products, and large container shipments, are more likely to flow through Lekki than through already-strained legacy ports.
This dynamic supports the federal government’s long-standing objective of decongesting Apapa without disrupting trade flows.
Infrastructure investments are beginning to pay off
Lekki’s rise in the rankings aligns closely with recent government and private-sector investments aimed at resolving what had been the port’s biggest constraint: access.
Over the past year, major interventions have included:
The commissioning of a 37-kilometre access road built by Dangote and inaugurated by President Bola Tinubu.
Federal Executive Council approval of N651.7 billion for the 7th axial road, designed to link Lekki Deep Sea Port to the southern and northern trade corridors.
Ongoing consideration of alternative engineering solutions, including lagoon backfilling, to eliminate potential chokepoints on the port’s access routes.
These developments are critical because a deep-sea port’s competitiveness depends not just on berths and cranes, but on how quickly cargo can move inland.
The Q1–Q3 data suggest that improvements in evacuation routes are already translating into higher cargo throughput.
Lekki is attracting cargo faster than older ports because its deep-water capacity for larger vessels, automated operations, proximity to major industrial assets, and readiness for next-generation shipping make it more efficient and future-proof for high-value, time-sensitive trade.
