Cyberattacks Threaten African Ports, Trade, Dantsoho Warns

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr Abubakar Dantsoho, has warned that rising cyberattacks pose a rising risk to port operations, worldwide commerce and financial stability throughout Africa.

Dantsoho known as for stronger cybersecurity measures, regional intelligence sharing and customary digital requirements amongst African ports to guard essential infrastructure because the maritime trade more and more adopts digital applied sciences and synthetic intelligence (AI).

He spoke on the African Ports Conference in Casablanca, Morocco, on Tuesday, in his capability as NPA managing director and President of the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA).

Dantsoho mentioned cyberattacks on port infrastructure had moved past info expertise issues, warning that they might disrupt cargo motion, interrupt commerce and undermine maritime provide chains.

“In July 2021, a cyberattack on Transnet forced South Africa’s container terminals to declare force majeure. In 2023, cyber incidents disrupted the Port of Nagoya and DP World terminals across Australia for days. These were not merely IT problems. They were interruptions to trade,” he mentioned.

He confused that the rising digitalisation of port operations have to be accompanied by sufficient safeguards to guard operational methods, cargo info, income assortment and knowledge trade amongst stakeholders.

“AI can help a port work more intelligently, but cybersecurity protects its ability to work at all,” he mentioned.

The NPA chief additionally cautioned towards digital platforms turning into single factors of failure able to disrupting complete port communities.

“A single window must not become a single point of failure,” he mentioned.

Nigeria has launched the National Single Window and a beta model of the Port Community System to enhance coordination amongst Customs, terminal operators, delivery traces and regulatory companies.

However, Dantsoho mentioned the advantages of those platforms would rely upon efficient cybersecurity preparations and the power to maintain important operations throughout disruptions.

He outlined measures for strengthening port cybersecurity, together with separating operational expertise from administrative networks, imposing safety necessities on linked companions, testing restoration methods and coaching personnel to determine and report threats.

He additionally known as for cybersecurity to be built-in into broader port safety preparations in keeping with related International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) necessities and International Maritime Organization (IMO) requirements.

“A recovery plan is not proven because it exists. It is proven because it works,” he mentioned, emphasising the necessity for ports to check backups and rehearse restoration procedures.

Beyond cybersecurity, Dantsoho mentioned AI may assist African ports tackle vessel ready instances, cargo delays, inefficient truck actions, income leakages and tools failures.

He mentioned purposes akin to improved vessel arrival forecasts, berth planning, truck scheduling, cargo-risk evaluation and predictive upkeep may enhance operational effectivity and scale back prices.

However, he warned towards adopting expertise with out clear targets and measurable outcomes.

“The objective is not to replace professional judgement, but to strengthen it,” he mentioned.

Highlighting Nigeria’s expertise, Dantsoho mentioned the NPA had launched the Eto digital truck call-up system to deal with congestion round port entry roads and had superior digital coordination via the National Single Window and Port Community System.

He recalled that cargo beforehand remained at Lagos ports for so long as three weeks, whereas the Apapa entry street, designed to accommodate about 2,400 vans each day, dealt with greater than 7,000 vans.

According to him, Nigeria’s port reforms have been yielding encouraging outcomes, with Tin Can Island Port rating tenth and Apapa Port twelfth among the many world’s most improved ports within the World Bank’s Container Port Performance Index 2025, launched in June 2026.

He added that Nigeria’s cargo throughput elevated by 24.8 per cent to 129.3 million metric tonnes in 2025.

The NPA can also be implementing a $1bn modernisation programme for Apapa and Tin Can Island ports, which Dantsoho mentioned provided a possibility to include safe digital infrastructure and clever upkeep methods into port renewal initiatives.

As PMAWCA president, he known as for regional cooperation, arguing that cyber threats and operational disruptions may have penalties past particular person nations as a result of delivery routes and cargo corridors have been interconnected.

“If we modernise in isolation, we risk replacing paper-based fragmentation with digital fragmentation,” he mentioned.