Abiodun Secures Strategic Partnership with Rizhao to Drive Olokola Deep Sea Port…

Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, made a significant breakthrough in China on Saturday with Rizhao Mayor Wang Xinsheng, advancing a strategic partnership to unlock the Olokola Deep Sea Port project, boost mineral resource development, and deepen cultural and educational exchanges between Ogun and Rizhao.

In the high-level meeting, Governor Abiodun emphasized leveraging Rizhao’s world-class port expertise to transform Ogun State into Nigeria’s foremost industrial and maritime hub, positioning it as Africa’s gateway for trade with Asia. Key to this vision is accelerating the development of the Olokola Deep Sea Port, a project poised to become a major logistics and export platform supporting Nigeria’s growing economy.

Beyond port infrastructure, Abiodun highlighted Ogun’s vast untapped mineral wealth including gold, bitumen, limestone, kaolin, and other resources, inviting Chinese investors for exploration, value-addition, and job creation that aligns with his administration’s industrialization goals. The partnership aims to foster coordinated mining initiatives, enhancing environmental stewardship and boosting local economies.

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The Governor also sought to strengthen cultural and educational ties with Rizhao through people-to-people exchanges, which would promote tourism and mutually beneficial knowledge sharing, further solidifying relations beyond economics.

This engagement follows ongoing efforts by Ogun State to attract international investments, reinforced by robust infrastructure projects such as a world-class airport, a dry inland port at Kajola, and a multimodal transport system linking air, rail, and road networks. Ogun’s free trade zones currently host more than 160 Chinese companies with over $1 billion in investments, a testament to its status as Nigeria’s leading non-oil investment destination.

Governor Abiodun’s meeting with Rizhao marks another bold stride in positioning Ogun as a multi-billion-dollar global and regional economic powerhouse, securing strategic international partnerships that underline the state’s vital role in Nigeria’s industrial transformation and Africa’s trade future.