Baroness Jennifer Chapman, UK’s Top Envoy, is Coming to Abuja

Baroness Jennifer Chapman is coming to Abuja. The UK’s Minister of State for Africa, and a close ally of Prime Minister Keir Starmer, will hold talks with Nigeria’s Foreign Minister Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu. The trip builds on President Bola Tinubu’s state visit to Britain in March, the first by a Nigerian leader in 37 years, since Ibrahim Babangida in 1989.

To the informed, that gap was more than just historical drift. In 2023, Tinubu recalled nearly all of Nigeria’s ambassadors abroad, and the London post sat empty for over two years. It was only filled in May, when Aminu Dalhatu finally took up the role.

Observers believe that what changed the temperature was money.

The two countries are now executing a £746 million deal to modernise the Lagos Port Complex and Tin Can Island, financed by UK Export Finance and arranged by Citibank. It is the first serious overhaul of those ports in close to 50 years.

Together, both ports handle more than 70 per cent of Nigeria’s maritime trade. Years of shallow channels and clogged terminals have slowed cargo movement across the region. The plan now is to dredge the berths to a 16-meter draft over 48 months, deep enough for the larger vessels that currently bypass Lagos for other African ports.

Both sides stand to gain. Nigeria gets infrastructure upgrades without draining its treasury. Britain secures supply contracts for its own companies, including a £70 million order already awarded to British Steel.

Britain is watching other Western powers lose ground across West Africa, and Chapman’s trip looks like an attempt to get ahead of that drift before Nigeria looks elsewhere. Optimists on both sides hope for deeper, longer commitments.