Lagos State has officially launched the Omi-Eko project, a €410 million programme to transform the city’s inland waterways into a fast, reliable and greener commute option. Announcing the initiative, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu framed it as “another decisive step toward transforming transportation in Lagos,” and a commitment to a cleaner, safer, more efficient city where “water becomes a true channel for mobility and opportunity.”
At its heart, Omi-Eko (literally “Lagos water”) recognises a longstanding paradox: Lagos is defined by lagoons and creeks, yet roads carry most movement. The project’s design changes that narrative through focused investment in modern water transport, delivered through two tightly linked components—infrastructure and operations.
Infrastructure first. The state will open up 15 priority ferry routes, supported by the dredging and marking of 140 kilometres of inland channels to ensure year-round navigability. Along these corridors, Lagos will develop 25 ferry terminals and jetties, each planned with electric charging points, maintenance depots, and improved first/last-mile road connections. The goal is simple: make water travel predictable, quick, and seamlessly linked to bus and rail so commuters can truly “park–sail–ride.”
Sustainable operations next. Omi-Eko pairs the hard assets with a modern service layer. The plan includes over 75 electric-powered ferries, cutting emissions and noise while lowering lifecycle operating costs. Lagos will deploy intelligent transport systems (ITS) for integrated ticketing, passenger information, and real-time service management, so riders can plan trips with the same confidence they expect from urban rail. Crucially, the programme invests in capacity building for the Lagos State Waterways Authority (LASWA), strengthening regulation, safety oversight, and day-to-day service quality.
For commuters, the promise is tangible: shorter, more reliable journeys on corridors that currently swallow hours; cleaner vessels with visible safety features; digital payments and live updates that remove guesswork; and coordinated connections that make switching between water, bus, and rail painless. For the city’s economy, Omi-Eko unlocks new catchment areas for jobs and housing, supports tourism along the waterfront, and eases pressure on notorious choke points like the Third Mainland Bridge and the Lekki–Epe corridor.
The Governor also acknowledged the coalition making Omi-Eko possible, thanking the French Development Agency (AFD), the European Union (EU), and the European Investment Bank (EIB) for their support. Their technical and financial partnership underpins the multi-year buildout, de-risking the early phases and ensuring Lagos can scale quickly once initial routes prove demand.
Execution now moves from blueprint to delivery: phased activation of the 15 routes, commissioning of the first terminals and charging infrastructure, operator onboarding under clear service-level agreements, and public education to seed ridership habits. With LASWA strengthened, the state says it will enforce safety, reliability, and fare discipline so the benefits—less congestion, faster trips, and new economic opportunity—are widely shared.
If Lagos hits its milestones—boats delivered on schedule, terminals finished to spec, channels maintained, and ITS working end-to-end—Omi-Eko could reset the rhythm of the megacity’s daily life: fewer hours in traffic, more time at work and home, and a quieter, cleaner commute over water. As Sanwo-Olu put it, Omi-Eko is about giving Lagosians more options to move safely and efficiently—and letting the city’s greatest natural asset carry more of the load.
