Nigerian Ports Authority MD elected to represent Africa

NPA head to represent Africa in international association

The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) has been elected as one of the six vice presidents within the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH) to represent the African region.

Dr Abubakar Dantsoho joins Eugene Seroka (VP North America), Ichio Motono (VP Asia, South West, East & Middle East), Marika Calfas (VP Asia, Southeast and Oceania), Jacques Vandermeiren (VP Europe) and Vinicius Patel (VP America, Central and South).

This follows the re-election of Jens Meier, current president of IAPH and CEO of Hamburg Port Authority following a formal voting process which took place earlier this year. The new president and vice presidents will officially take office following the endorsement at the AGM on October 9, 2025.

Dantsoho joined the NPA in 1992, when he started as National Youth Service Corps trainee and subsequently as a Marketing Officer in the Headquarters. After appointments to various levels of middle and executive management, he was chosen to take up the position of Technical Assistant to the Managing Director from 2016 to 2017, after which he functioned as Principal Manager in the Tariff and Billing Division.

In 2020, he was appointed as Port Manager for Onne Port Complex where he positioned the complex for year-on-year growth. His success in this role led to his redeployment to the Headquarters as Special Assistant Result Delivery to the Management Director and subsequent promotion as Assistant General Manager.

He was later named as the Chief of Staff to the Honourable Minister of Transportation from 2022 to 2023, and has chaired several external and in-house Technical Committees such as the Committee for the Establishment of Cargo Tracking Notes in Nigeria, the Establishment of Port Community System (PCS), Debt Recovery amongst others and was a frontline member of the Management Committee on the Berthing of the Largest Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (Egina FPSO) as well as member of the 2023 Ministerial Committee on Presidential Transition.

Abubakar Dantsoho who is recipient of the NPA 25 Years Long Service & Merit Award, has completed several Consultancy Studies and Projects for the Nigerian Ports Authority such as the Consultancy Study by Crown Agents UK on NPA Concessions and Joint Venture Agreements, Single Window and on 25-Year Ports Development Masterplan, The World Bank Study on Private Sector Participation in Integrated Transport Systems and the Boston Consulting Group Study on Western & Eastern Ports Comparative Studies.

PHOTO: The six new Vice Presidents of the International Association of Ports and Harbours.