On April 28th, 2024 Nigeria secured a $600 million investment in seaport infrastructure from Danish shipping company A.P. Møller-Maersk. This was first revealed by the presidency in a press release on Sunday.
The investment was secured during a meeting between President Bola Tinubu and Moller-Maersk Chairman Robert Maersk Uggla on the sidelines of a World Economic Forum meeting in Saudi Arabia.
However, in less than 48 hours an online report emerged alleging that the Danish company denied promising to invest $600m in Nigeria. This narrative went viral on social media especially on the popular X platform.
An Economic Analyst/Presenter with Arise TV, Rotus Oddiri wrote a mail to Maersk seeking confirmation of the reported $600 million investment pledge. The company replied: “A.P. Moller-Maersk (Maersk) has been present in Nigeria for 35 years and, as a global provider of logistics services, we remain committed to develop opportunities for growth to people, the port sector and businesses locally. Therefore, it is natural to have an ongoing dialogue with the administration. However, we are not able to comment on any investments talks.”
The last sentence in Maersk’s response was then widely taken by many on social media as confirmation that Maersk did not make any $600 investment pledge during the Riyadh meeting with President Bola Tinubu.
Podium Reporters went in search of the facts.
DID MAERSK PLEDGE A $600M INVESTMENT IN NIGERIA?
FACT: A video report has shown that in February 2024, Maersk Terminals Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Keith Svendsen during a visit to Nigeria’s Trade and Investment Minister, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite stated that the company was planning to invest a hundred million dollars and an additional half a billion dollars in Nigeria to upgrade facilities at the Apapa port.
Sunday’s Riyadh meeting between President Tinubu and the Maersk Chairman was obviously another opportunity used by the company’s global leadership to reconfirm Maersk’s intention to further expand its investment in Nigeria’s ports.
VERDICT: Maersk pledged to invest $600 million.
Denmark’s AP Møller-Maersk is an integrated transport and logistics company with multiple brands and global leader in container shipping. The company has been a major partner in Nigeria’s port and logistics sector for more than three decades. The company has also at various times ploughed additional investments in Nigeria’s port infrastructure as they expand operations.
The false news about Maersk denying pledging investment in Nigeria is as a result of either misunderstanding of the response of Maersk, who obviously chose not to comment on their investment plans via mail or deliberate mischief by those who always want to portray the Tinubu administration in negative lights.