Lekki Port, LFT handle 840,903 TEU containers

From 2023 when it began cargo operations to the year 2025, Lekki Deep Sea Port and its terminal operator, Lekki Freeport Terminal (LFT), have handled and delivered 840,903 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units of containers to their respective owners, reaching 50 percent capacity of the port.

In the year 2023, 53,163 TEU of containers landed in the port. 284,297 TEU of containers handled and delivered to their respective owners. With a few days to the end of 2025, Lekki Port has handled 503,443 TEU of containers.

The container dwell time is 16 days and the truck time is 1 hours and a few minutes.

These figures were released by the managements of Lekki Deep Sea Port and Lekki Freeport Terminal at a media interaction in the port at Ibeju Lekki, Lagos State, on Tuesday, December 16, 2025.

Both the Managing Directors of Lekki Port LFTZ Enterprise Limited and LFT, Mr. Wang Qiang and Mr. Jedrzej Mierzewsky respectively said they are working to further enhancing the performance and step up its present capacity.

“All players must be ready to make the system work. We can double the capacity of the port by improving our performance but this cannot be achieved without the full cooperation of all our stakeholders,” said Mr. Jedrzej Mierzewsky, LFT Managing Director.

To Mr. Wang Qiang, Managing Director of Lekki Port, the attainment of the 50 percent in the capacity is as a result of the increased confidence of shipping lines and cargo owners in our port.

The two port executives – Wang Qiang and Jedrzej Mierzewsky – maintained that Lekki Port remains the only port that has the capacity for transhipment of cargo within  Nigeria and that can compete favourably with other neighbouring ports in West Africa.

Rated as the second largest port in Nigeria after Apapa Port in terms of trade volumes, the port managers expressed optimism of sustaining this and even making the port number one in Nigeria by improving on its performance and further boost investment in technology.

Between Q1 and Q3 2025, Lekki Port handled an estimated N13.46 trillion in total trade value, combining imports and exports, making it Nigeria’s second-largest port by trade value. This figure places it well ahead of Tin Can Island Port’s N9.31 trillion and almost double the N6.76 trillion recorded at Port Harcourt (Onne).

To further accelerate the growth of the port, Qiang said efficient multimodal connectivity remains critical in this direction, revealing that barge operations have become an important evacuation channel and currently account for about 10 per cent of cargo movement from the port.

According to him, the ongoing Lagos–Calabar Coastal Road project would help ease congestion and improve access to the port while stressing that rail connectivity remains essential.

He added that digitisation of Customs operations including examination would lead to a further reduction in the dwell time of cargo in the port.

Both Mr. Weilian Zhong and Mr. Ajay Tyagl, Chief Operating Officers Lekki Port and Lekki Freeport Terminal made presentation on the phase development of the port.

Within 45 years of its concession period, Lekki Port is expected to contribute $US361 billion to the national economy of Nigeria and create 170,000 direct and indirect jobs.