Nigerian business leader and Managing Director of Aquarian Consult, Aisha Maina, has secured a $40 million investment from the African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank) to develop a deep-water port in St Kitts, part of a broader strategy to establish a direct maritime trade route between Africa and the Caribbean.
According to Punch, Maina—who also heads Gemini Integrated Commodities—signed the agreement on July 28, 2025, in Grenada during the Afreximbank Afri-Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum.
The deal was formalised in the presence of Prime Minister of St Kitts & Nevis, Dr Terrance Drew, and saw Samal Duggins, the island’s Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources, sign on behalf of the Caribbean nation.
Speaking at the signing ceremony, Maina described the port as “the physical backbone of a trade bridge that has been too long in the making,” emphasising its potential to move discussions on Africa–Caribbean trade from “promise to throughput”.
Duggins, in turn, hailed the project as a bold step in delivering transformation through tangible infrastructure, stating that “facility after facility, deal after deal, we are not just talking transformation; we are delivering it.”
The port—planned for Basseterre—will feature a Panamax berth and anchor a 10-square-kilometre special economic zone dedicated to agro-processing, light manufacturing, and bonded warehousing. Environmental and feasibility studies are set to begin in August 2025, with financial closure expected by the first quarter of 2026. The first container ship is scheduled to arrive by the fourth quarter of 2028.
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Maina noted that the project could reduce Lagos–Basseterre shipping time to just seven days, bypassing costly European detours and giving African exporters faster access to Caribbean and North American markets.
She underscored the role of the private sector in driving such initiatives, telling delegates at the Caribbean Investment Forum in Kingston, Jamaica, on July 30 that “retreat or defeat are not options”.
Further outlining the project’s impact at the Trans-Atlantis Trade and Investment Symposium in Trinidad on August 3, Maina stressed that linking port facilities, economic zones, and financing tools is essential for tackling youth unemployment, bolstering food security, and diversifying exports.
Project details reveal that the port is expected to create 600 direct construction jobs and attract an additional $300 million in private investment.
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For St Kitts & Nevis—a country with fewer than 60,000 residents—the development could transform the nation into a logistics hub connecting 19 African and 12 Caribbean Commonwealth countries.
It will also provide value-added services by processing African raw materials closer to North American markets, enhancing regional supply chains.
The initiative follows the momentum generated by the Afri-Caribbean Investment Summit in Abuja in March and a June 2025 trade mission that saw an Air Peace Boeing 777 transport over 120 Nigerian entrepreneurs and policymakers to Basseterre.
With Gemini Integrated Commodities co-investing alongside Afreximbank, the project places execution risk squarely on the private sector—signalling a shift from policy-led to commercially driven infrastructure development.
Image credit: Radarr Africa
