Follow Us on Google
Aisha Maina, the dynamic Nigerian entrepreneur and Managing Director of Aquarian Consult, as well as founder of Gemini Integrated Commodities, has secured a key $40 million investment to develop a deep-water port in Saint Kitts and Nevis, backed by Afreximbank.
In addition to this milestone, she led a high-level trade mission across Grenada, Jamaica, and Trinidad, advancing a strategic vision to establish a robust commercial bridge between Africa and the Caribbean.
The port project, situated in Basseterre, is designed to anchor a 10-square-kilometre special economic zone (SEZ) tailored for agro-processing, bonded warehousing, and light manufacturing. Feasibility studies are scheduled to begin in August 2025, with financial close expected in the first quarter of 2026. Upon completion, the project is anticipated to generate thousands of jobs and catalyse an additional $300 million in private sector investment.
For Saint Kitts & Nevis, a nation of fewer than 60,000 people, the project represents more than infrastructure—it positions the country as a pivotal logistics hub between 19 African and 12 Caribbean Commonwealth nations. For West African exporters, the port shortens shipping times to the Caribbean to just seven days, eliminating costly European detours and offering full end-to-end digital customs visibility.
At the Afreximbank Afri-Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum held in Grenada on July 28, Maina co-signed a $40 million Letter of Interest with Afreximbank and the Government of Saint Kitts and Nevis. The agreement was signed in the presence of Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew, with Honourable Samal Duggins, Minister of Agriculture and Marine Resources, representing the island nation.
“Africa and the Caribbean need assets, not just aspirations,” Maina declared on stage. “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.”
Duggins affirmed the momentum: “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.”
At the Caribbean Investment Forum in Montego Bay, Jamaica, held on July 30, Maina confirmed that feasibility and environmental assessments for the Basseterre port would commence in August. She outlined a logistics corridor that would cut Lagos-to-Basseterre sailing times dramatically, underscoring the economic benefits of eliminating European transit points.
“If the private sector does not take charge of the process, we will remain where we have been. Retreat or defeat are not options,” she told delegates.
Concluding her Caribbean mission on August 3 in Port of Spain, Trinidad, Maina delivered the keynote address at the Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Symposium hosted by the Emancipation Support Committee of Trinidad and Tobago. Her speech, titled Why Caribbean and Africa Trade and Investment and Economic Cooperation Matter, connected port logistics and economic-zone clustering to broader development goals, including youth employment, food security, and export diversification.
The project’s first berth will be Panamax-capable, with expansion potential. Construction is expected to create 600 direct jobs. Once operational, the SEZ will serve as a value-addition hub, allowing African raw materials to be processed closer to North American markets.
More than just a physical structure, the port embodies a shift in how infrastructure, trade, and diplomacy intersect. One of the Commonwealth’s smallest nations will soon host a critical maritime asset, linking the ambitions of African and Caribbean economies through shared history and mutual opportunity.
The initiative began gaining traction in March during the Afri-Caribbean Investment Summit in Abuja and further accelerated in June when an Air Peace 777 carried 120 Nigerian entrepreneurs and policymakers to Saint Kitts. With the Grenada signing, Montego Bay affirmation, and Trinidad keynote, Aisha Maina’s vision is fast becoming a trans-Atlantic reality—one deal, one dock, and one trade route at a time.
