Lagos, Aug. 4, 2025 – Aisha Maina, a Nigerian entrepreneur, has secured a $40 million Afreximbank-backed investment to build a deep-water port in St Kitts.
The new port will anchor a 10 square kilometre special economic zone designed for agro-processing, light assembly and bonded warehousing.
Feasibility studies on the project started in August and the financial close is targeted for Q1 2026.
The facility is expected to create thousands of jobs and attract an additional USD 300 million in private investment.
For Saint Kitts & Nevis, a nation of fewer than 60,000 people, the project positions the federation as a logistics hinge between 19 African and 12 Caribbean Commonwealth members.
For exporters in West Africa, it removes a costly European detour and delivers end-to-end digital customs visibility.
Maina, the Managing Director of Aquarian Consult and founder of Gemini Integrated Commodities, is also paving a direct shipping gateway for African exporters.
She is leading a Caribbean trade mission across Grenada, Jamaica and Trinidad to open doors for new partnerships in agribusiness, manufacturing and professional services.
The project is expected to generate thousands of jobs in the Eastern Caribbean and Africa while providing African producers with faster, cost-efficient access to lucrative markets.
Maina’s initiative exemplifies South-South cooperation at its best and underscores Nigeria’s capacity to shape global trade corridors.
She has just completed an intensive week of engagements to unite policy, private capital and hard infrastructure around a single objective – building a reliable commercial bridge between Africa and the Caribbean.
During the week, she was at the Afreximbank Afri-Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum in Grenada where she co-signed a USD 40 million Letter of Interest with Afreximbank and the Government of St Kitts & Nevis on July 28, 2025.
Saint Kitts’ Prime Minister Dr Terrance Drew witnessed the signing, while Honourable Samal Duggins, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources, signed for the island nation.
The agreement finances a Panamax-capable deep-water port in Basseterre and a ten-square-kilometre special economic zone for agro-processing and light assembly.
“Africa and the Caribbean need assets, not just aspirations. With this port we move from promise to throughput, from talk to tonnage. It is the physical backbone of a trade bridge that has been too long in the making,” Maina said on stage.
Duggins added: “Fresh off the Afri-Caribbean Exchange, I proudly signed a landmark Letter of Interest with Afreximbank.
“Facility after facility, deal after deal, we are not just talking transformation; we are delivering it. The vision is clear, the progress is real, and the future is now.”
