The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Abubakar Dantsoho, has warned that cyberattacks remain a growing threat to African ports, cargo flows and the wider economy.
Speaking at the African Ports Conference in Casablanca, Morocco, he urged African port authorities to treat cybersecurity as an essential part of maritime security rather than a separate information-technology issue, the Lagos-based The Sun reported on October 22.
Dantsoho, who also serves as President of the Port Management Association of West and Central Africa (PMAWCA), said the rapid adoption of digital tools and artificial intelligence (AI) could improve efficiency, but would also widen the attack surface if ports failed to secure operational systems, cargo data, revenue processes and information exchanges among stakeholders.
The NPA chief called for stronger cybersecurity measures, regional intelligence-sharing and common digital standards across African ports, and warned that increasingly interconnected port systems, linking government agencies, shipping lines, terminal operators and service providers, could create vulnerabilities if partners do not meet agreed security requirements.
Dantsoho also cautioned that digital trade platforms must not become weak links, stressing that Nigeria’s National Single Window and beta Port Community System should improve coordination with Customs, terminal operators, shipping lines and regulators without compromising resilience.
He outlined five measures: integrate cyber protection into wider port-security arrangements; separate operational technology from administrative networks; require connected partners to meet security standards; test recovery systems; and train staff to identify and report suspicious activity.
Dantsoho said ports should align cyber measures with the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) framework and the International Maritime Organization’s guidance on maritime cyber-risk management, which encourages ports and shipping companies to identify, protect against, detect, respond to and recover from cyber threats.
He also cited three major disruptions as evidence that cyber incidents can translate directly into trade losses, and said that “these were not merely IT problems. They were interruptions to trade”.
In July 2021, a cyberattack on South Africa’s state-owned logistics company Transnet disrupted container operations at Durban, Ngqura, Port Elizabeth and Cape Town, forcing the company to declare force majeure and process some cargo manually.
In July 2023, a ransomware attack on Japan’s Port of Nagoya halted container loading and unloading for more than two days, prompting Toyota to suspend a packaging line for export-bound components.
In November 2023, DP World Australia detected unauthorized access to its network and disconnected it from the internet, suspending landside operations at terminals in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Fremantle for three days; the company later cleared a backlog of more than 30,000 containers.
