Disciplined asset growth in Nigeria’s maritime industry

May 22, 2026

Babalola Adefarati, managing director of AfrikDelta Marine, talks to The Energy Year about building long-term competitiveness through measured capacity growth and readying the company for Nigeria’s next wave of offshore development.

AfrikDelta Marine is a provider of maritime and offshore services to oil and gas companies in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.

• Local content is becoming a competitive differentiator for Nigerian oil and gas operators. Companies that embed in-country capabilities in their offerings are better positioned to secure higher-value contracts and remain relevant.
• This context is creating incentives for operators to pursue disciplined expansion coupled with capacity building, rather than aggressive asset growth.
• Renewed interest in offshore projects is set to revive demand for maritime services, with the reactivation of major projects such as Bonga North and Zabazaba expected to bring the first wave of heightened activity.

 

How has AfrikDelta Marine’s business evolved in recent years?
AfrikDelta’s trajectory has been defined less by rapid expansion than by deliberate, calibrated growth, distinguishing between scale for its own sake and growth that is structurally sustainable. Growth is not only about the revenue it generates but also about the value that is created, which means aligning corporate development with wider national priorities.
Our role in serving the Nigerian oil and gas sector means that growth must translate into developing local capacity and capability. We have grown our assets slightly and increased our footprint as measured by the number of contracts we have, but what matters more is that this growth has gone hand in hand with capacity development. Long-term competitiveness in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector depends less on short-term gains than on embedding skills, systems and operational resilience locally. Growth is a by-product of capacity development rather than an end in itself.

AfrikDelta is a Category AA company under Nigeria’s local content framework. What practical value does that confer?
Category AA status under the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board is a gateway to higher-value opportunities within the oil and gas sector, but what truly matters is what it represents – local content. Today, our assets are Nigerian-owned and crewed with Nigerians, and that is a deliberate choice that reflects our commitment to domestic capacity development as a reality embedded in our operations.
This philosophy also shapes how we approach partnerships. We are very selective about the domestic and international companies we collaborate with and conduct thorough due diligence to ensure that they share our values and are genuinely committed to developing capacity in-country.
Reputational capital, if diluted, is difficult to restore. In a market where local content is both a regulatory requirement and a competitive differentiator, we are intent on ensuring that our track record is substantive.

How do you approach asset diversification, and how are you positioning the company to capture future market opportunities?
All domestic maritime companies are considering diversification, and we are no exception, because opportunities are emerging across the sector, and it is natural to evaluate where expansion could make sense. However, for AfrikDelta, the key is discipline.
Our core strength is tug services for the oil and gas industry, a segment in which we consider ourselves to be one of the best. That is where we have built our expertise, reputation and operational excellence, and because of that, we are careful not to lose focus by spreading ourselves too thin across other areas of the marine sector.
This does not mean we ignore opportunities, and we are seeing interesting openings in the market. The oil and gas sector has been relatively quiet recently and focused on brownfield activities, but there is now renewed interest and discussions around developments such as Bonga North, Bonga South West and Zabazaba. These conversations were not happening before, and they signal a shift in momentum.
As activity increases, demand for our services will follow. Production cannot increase without maritime support. We are optimistic about what lies ahead and have deliberately invested in capacity to be ready to absorb new business without overstretching.

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