Business
What You Should Know About Boats Building And Why It’s Profitable
For thousands of years, people have been using boats as a means of traveling, trading, and even for sports on water.
But how are boats built? What are the raw materials and tools for building boats? Again, how long does it take to build a boat, and what of the apprenticeship scheme?
Mr AGOSU MATTHEW, a local boat (also called canoe) builder at Badore waterfronts fishermen’s settlement, Ajah Town in Lagos State, shares the answers with our Editor, Franklin Ocheneyi.
Happy reading:
Tell our readers about yourself.
My name is Agosu Matthew. I am a skilled boat builder. What motivated you to go into building boats?
First, I started as a fisherman. As time passed, I thought deeply about what else I could do to enhance my income from the fishing business.
I consulted with some of my co-fishermen. They advised that I go into boat building, which is an extension of the business.
How long have you been building boats?
I started 25 years ago.
It took me 14 years to acquire the skills, up to 2013, when I graduated from my master.
What are the tools for boat building?
The traditional tools include hammer hammer, axe, nails, Cutlass, and scissors, etc.
What about the woods?
We use the following woods: Opepe, Eru, Agboin, Afara, and parateru
Where do you get these woods?
Makoko at Lagos Island, and Itamagba sawmills market at Ikorodu.
How many pieces of wood make a boat?
It depends on the size of the boat.
For a big boat with 8-10 passenger capacity, we use about twelve pieces of wood.
The small boat takes between 6-7 pieces of wood.
How long does it take to build a boat?

∆ Mr Agosu Matthew at work with his apprentice.
Again, it depends on the size of the Canoe.
Big boat takes up to two weeks if it’s only me working on it without the support of my apprentices, and if I don’t allow other things to distract me from the work.
However, if I have enough hands, it makes the construction faster and the work can be done in seven days.
What are the challenges of the business?
There are many challenges. One of them is getting the modern tools.
I rent those tools we don’t have and because of the pressure to return them within a specific hours, it slows down the pace of the construction and the timely delivery of the project.
Nevertheless, with the introduction of modern tools, the training patterns have changed. So, if an apprentice is humble, focused, brainy, and sharp, he can use four years to acquire the skills.
How is the boat market, in terms of patronage?

∆ An aerial view of the community/ Ohi baba.com image.
People come to buy, or place orders when their boats is spoiling.
These locally made boats last for five years before spoiling.
Sometimes, we sell two boats in a month. The price of a boat is costly. We sell the big boat at N500 thousand, while the small one goes for N300 thousand.
How long does it take to learn the work?
As I said earlier, it took me 14 years to learn under my Master’s.
It took me that long because I had no financial support from anyone.
Nevertheless, with the introduction of modern tools, the training patterns have changed. So, if an apprentice is humble, focused, brainy, and sharp, he can use four years to acquire the skills.
Last, do you have an association for boat builders?
Yes; we have an association at Ikorodu. I belonged to the association ( That’s my membership ID card). The association has a lawyer, and if any challenge should arise, our chairman is the first person to know.
Business
Cement: Manufacturers Post N5.8tn Nine Months Revenue
The surge in the revenue is being driven by the increasing prices of cement selling N12,000 to N15,000 between July and September 2026 in Lagos and Ogun States, compared with around N10,000 sold in September 2025.
The three largest cement manufacturers in Nigeria Dangote Cement Plc, Lafarge Africa Plc, and BUA Cement Plc have reported a combined N5.8 trillion revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2026.
The surge in the revenue is being driven by the increasing prices of cement selling N12,000 to N15,000 between July and September 2026 in Lagos and Ogun States, compared with around N10,000 sold in September 2025.
THISDAY reported that their unaudited result and accounts, the N5.8 trillion revenue is about 21 per cent increase over the N4.8 trillion revenue reported in nine months of 2025.
A breakdown revealed that Dangote Cement reported N3.8 trillion revenue during the period under review, about 19.6 per cent increase when compared to N3.15 trillion in 2025.
Dangote Cement’s production capacity increased by 9 per cent to 22.1million metric tonnes from 20.2 million tonnes in the corresponding period of 2025. It sold 14.1Mt, up by 6.4 per cent in the period under review. Its average selling price also rose by 9.4 per cent to N170,493 per tonne.
Exports of cement and clinker from Nigeria increased by 41.8 per cent to 1.5Mt, including 26 clinker shipments to Ghana, Cameroon and Ivory Coast. The company’s operations in other African countries sold 9.1Mt, up by 14 per cent. Senegal grew by 30%, Ethiopia by 19 per cent and Tanzania by nine per cent, and a new grinding plant in Ivory Coast sold 0.53Mt. Sales in Ghana and Cameroon were lower.
The first phase of the company’s 6Mt/yr plant at Itori in Ogun state is on track to be commissioned in 2027, part of a plan to increase capacity to 80Mt/yr from 55Mt/yr across Africa.
On its part, BUA Cement posted N1.09 trillion revenue, a growth of 26.5 per cent from N858.72 billion in 2025, while HBM Nigeria declared N928.25 billion revenue, representing an increase of nearly 19 per cent from N780.5 billion in 2025.
Business
Dangote Says Refinery’s IPO Misses 10 Million Investors Target
According to him, the company is yet to establish the official number of investors who participated in the offer, as the necessary reports are still being compiled.
Chairman of Dangote Industries Limited (DIL), Aliko Dangote, has disclosed that the initial public offering (IPO) of the Dangote Petroleum Refinery failed to meet its target of attracting 10 million investors.
Dangote disclosed this during the 25th annual conference of the Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) in Lagos.
Dangote, however, said the public offer recorded significant participation, attracting millions of investors despite not reaching the projected figure.
According to him, the company is yet to establish the official number of investors who participated in the offer, as the necessary reports are still being compiled.
“We cannot tell the figure right away because we have not reported to this, but we’ve gotten an amazing demand from various people,” Dangote said.
Business
Dangote Rice Mill in Jigawa Begins Processing
The Jigawa State Government investment tracker has confirmed that the Dangote Rice Mill in Hadin is operational with a processing capacity of 32 tonnes per hour, equivalent to roughly 280,000 tonnes annually.
The commencement of the rice mill is trending on a video shared on X.
The footage comes 12 years after Aliko Dangote committed $1 billion to commercial rice farming and processing across Nigeria
The facility is linked to commercial cultivation schemes around Hadejia and Kafin Hausa.
Dangote Group signed a memorandum of understanding with the Federal Government in August 2014 to invest $1 billion in integrated rice farming and milling across Jigawa, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara and Edo states. Two years later, the company launched an 8,000-hectare rice outgrower scheme in Hadejia, Jigawa State. Participating farmers received improved seeds, fertilisers and technical support, and the company committed to buying their harvested paddy for processing.By February 2017, the outgrower scheme had expanded to 25,000 hectares across 14 states. Dangote set a target of 225,000 metric tonnes of milled rice by the end of that year, with an ambition of reaching one million tonnes annually. Construction announcements followed over several years without matching production results.
Dangote laid the foundation for a processing plant in Hadin, Kaugama Local Government Area of Jigawa State, in March 2018.
The facility was initially designed to handle 16 tonnes of paddy per hour.In July 2025, Dangote said Niger State had joined Jigawa, Sokoto, Kebbi, Kano and Nasarawa as locations with rice mills under construction.
By November 2025, the group outlined plans for mills across five states with a combined annual processing capacity of 1.5 million tonnes.
To secure raw materials, Dangote Rice Limited signed a N1.8 trillion paddy rice supply agreement with Niger Foods Security Systems and Logistics Company in July 2025.
The 10-year deal requires Niger State to develop 25,000 hectares of commercial rice farms and support 50,000 local farmers.
In May 2026, Dangote confirmed the company had committed to purchasing one million metric tonnes of paddy rice from Niger Foods over the life of that agreement.
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