Afreximbank backs $40m investment in Caribbean port project

Aisha Maina, a prominent Nigerian entrepreneur and Managing Director of Aquarian Consult, has secured a landmark $40 million investment supported by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to develop a deep-water port in St Kitts and Nevis. The project marks a major step towards establishing a direct maritime trade corridor between Africa and the Caribbean, aiming to enhance economic cooperation and streamline logistics across the Atlantic.

The investment agreement was signed on July 28 in Grenada during the Afreximbank Afri-Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum. Maina, who is also the founder of Gemini Integrated Commodities, formalised the deal in the presence of representatives from Afreximbank and the Government of St Kitts and Nevis, marking a milestone in trans-Atlantic private sector collaboration.

“This port represents a decisive shift from promise to performance, from dialogue to delivery. It is the structural foundation of a long-overdue trade bridge,” Maina stated at the signing ceremony.

The Prime Minister of St Kitts and Nevis, Dr. Terrance Drew, was present as a witness to the agreement, while the Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources, Samal Duggins, signed on behalf of the federation. Duggins described the investment as a bold and strategic move, highlighting the importance of delivering transformation through real, measurable progress. “Through successive strategic investments, we are not merely discussing transformation, we are implementing it,” he said.

The new deep-water port, to be located in Basseterre, will feature a Panamax-class berth and serve as the anchor of a 10-square-kilometre Special Economic Zone focused on agro-processing, light assembly, and bonded warehousing. Feasibility and environmental studies are set to commence in August 2025, with financial close projected for the first quarter of 2026. The first shipment through the port is expected by the fourth quarter of 2028.

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Maina emphasized that the project will significantly cut shipping times between Lagos and Basseterre to just seven days, bypassing traditional European routes and reducing transportation costs. “If the private sector doesn’t lead the charge, we risk stagnation. Retreat or failure are not on the table,” she asserted while addressing delegates at the Caribbean Investment Forum in Kingston, Jamaica on July 30.

During her keynote address at the Trans-Atlantis Trade and Investment Symposium held in Trinidad on August 3, Maina highlighted the importance of linking infrastructure, economic zones, and financial systems to solve broader challenges such as youth unemployment, food insecurity, and limited export diversification across the regions.

The port development is expected to create approximately 600 direct construction jobs and attract an estimated $300 million in additional private investment. For St Kitts and Nevis, a nation of fewer than 60,000 people, the project is positioned to transform the country into a major logistics and value-addition hub, connecting 19 African and 12 Caribbean Commonwealth countries. The facility will enable African raw materials to be processed closer to North American markets, enhancing regional supply chains and industrial capacity.

This project builds on the growing momentum of Afro-Caribbean economic engagement, following the Afri-Caribbean Investment Summit held in Abuja earlier this year and a June trade mission that saw over 120 Nigerian entrepreneurs and policymakers travel to Basseterre aboard an Air Peace Boeing 777.

Managing Director of Aquarian Consult, Mrs Aisha Maina.

Through the co-investment of Gemini Integrated Commodities and Afreximbank, Maina’s initiative reflects a strategic shift from policy-led infrastructure to private-sector-driven delivery, reinforcing a commercial approach to building enduring Afro-Caribbean trade links.