Nigeria’s Tin Can Island Port and Lagos Port Complex in Apapa have been ranked among the world’s top 20 most improved container ports over the past five years, according to the World Bank’s Container Port Performance Index 2025.
- +W’Bank ranks Apapa, Tin Can ports among top performers
The World Bank, in the sixth edition of the CPPI, listed Tin Can Island Port Complex and Apapa Port Complex among the top 20 ports globally that recorded the most significant improvements in performance between 2020 and 2025.
The World Bank, in the sixth edition of the CPPI, listed Tin Can Island Port Complex and Apapa Port Complex among the top 20 ports globally that recorded the most significant improvements in performance between 2020 and 2025.
The CPPI evaluates container port performance using indicators such as vessel turnaround time and operational efficiency based on global benchmarks. The report was compiled by the World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence.
According to the report, Tin Can Island Port ranked 10th globally among ports with the greatest improvement over the five-year period, while Lagos Port ranked 12th.
The Container Port Performance Index provides a data-driven assessment of global port efficiency by focusing on vessel time in port.
It enables comparisons across ports and over time, helping to identify improvements and operational challenges.
The latest ranking comes as Nigeria continues to record trade surpluses. The National Bureau of Statistics reported a trade surplus of N7.54tn in the first quarter of 2026.
Data from the report showed that Tin Can Island Port improved its CPPI score by 42 points, moving from -68 in 2020 to -26 in 2025. Lagos Port also recorded a 35-point improvement, rising from -61 in 2020 to -26 in 2025.
The performance placed Nigeria among a select group of countries that recorded significant progress in vessel turnaround times, port efficiency and cargo-handling operations during the review period.
Nigeria ranked ahead of several major ports in the global improvement rankings, including France’s Marseille Port, which placed 11th with a 39-point improvement; Türkiye’s Iskenderun Port, which ranked 13th with a 34-point increase; and India’s Jawaharlal Nehru Port, which placed 14th with a 32-point gain.
Peru’s Paita Port ranked 15th with 32 points, while China’s Keelung and Fuzhou ports occupied 16th and 17th positions respectively, each recording 27 points.
Responding to the report, the Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, said, “With the investor-friendliness of President Bola Tinubu providing the gravitas needed for increased investment to implement our port infrastructure and equipment modernisation drive coupled with the unflinching support from the Minister of Marine & Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, we have all it takes to advance the fortunes of trade and boost the national economy.”
