NPERA Act Enhances Nigeria's Maritime Regulatory Framework

The Nigeria Port Economic Regulatory Agency (NPERA) Act, 2026, was recently assented to by President Bola Tinubu, creating a permanent statutory economic regulator for Nigeria's ports. This legislation repeals the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) Act of 2004 and transforms the NSC into NPERA.

The NPERA Act addresses longstanding inefficiencies in Nigeria's maritime sector, where high shipping charges and monopolistic practices have burdened shippers, importers, and exporters. The Act ensures that the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) retains its landlord functions while NPERA oversees tariffs, licensing, service standards, competition, commercial dispute resolution, and trade facilitation.

This regulatory framework is expected to bring stability and predictability to the industry, which has struggled with arbitrary charges and inefficiencies for decades. The establishment of NPERA represents a significant step towards improving Nigeria's port economy, which has been operating without a robust regulatory framework since 2014.