Recently released documents from the files of disgraced American businessman Jeffrey Epstein reveal that nearly a year before his controversial death inside a Manhattan prison in 2019, he was working to broker an infrastructure deal on behalf of the Emirati logistics giant DP World in Nigeria. The proposal aimed to grant the company direct influence over one of West Africa’s most strategic ports.
Messages dating back to the summer of 2018, published by the United States Department of Justice and cited in a report by Drop Site News, indicate that Epstein facilitated discussions between then head of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority Jide Zeitlin and former DP World chairman Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem regarding the establishment and operation of cargo terminals in Lagos and Badagry.
Bin Sulayem was removed from his position five days after revelations emerged about his close friendship with Epstein.
The correspondence reveals that the company’s leadership, under bin Sulayem, refused to invest in an industrial zone without full control over the surrounding port. This condition had remained unmet since DP World’s initial attempts to enter the Nigerian market in 2005.
Zeitlin reportedly informed bin Sulayem of his proximity to then Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari, as well as to shipping billionaire Gabriele Volpi, owner of Intels, the largest logistics company in Nigeria’s oil and gas sector.
Epstein’s role extended beyond mediation. He proposed involving influential American figures, including former White House counsel Kathryn Ruemmler, who served during the Barack Obama administration and recently resigned as chief legal officer at Goldman Sachs, in an effort to facilitate the political and financial arrangements surrounding the deal.
In a message to Epstein in September 2018, following Djibouti’s seizure of DP World’s primary East African terminal, Zeitlin wrote, “I hope your friend’s visit to Tel Aviv proves more effective than his efforts on the African continent.”
After Epstein’s death, DP World acquired a controlling stake in a Nigerian logistics provider in 2022 and began expanding its presence in Lagos last year.
Security as an Economic Gateway
The port strategy did not operate independently from security cooperation. Epstein’s relationship with former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak spanned more than a decade and reportedly included collaboration in cyber security and investment ventures, with links to Israeli mining and military industries operating in Africa.
In 2014, amid escalating unrest in Ukraine, Syria, Somalia and Libya, Epstein wrote to Barak, “With civil disorder exploding, is this not perfect for you?” Barak replied, “You are right in a way, but it is not easy to turn it into cash flow.”
That same year, as Boko Haram attacks intensified in Nigeria, Barak introduced Israeli security firms as partners to the Nigerian government under the banner of counter terrorism, leveraging his local networks.
The technologies marketed there were described as “field tested”, a phrase widely understood to reference their prior use in the occupied Palestinian territories. Among them was the biometric “Basel” system deployed at the Erez crossing between Gaza and the occupied interior, incorporating facial recognition and hand geometry scanning to regulate the movement of Palestinian workers.
In 2015, Barak and his associate Gary Fegel invested 15 million US dollars in FST Biometrics, a facial recognition company founded by Aharon Ze’evi Farkash, the former head of Israeli military intelligence.
A pilot project was launched at Babcock University in Nigeria, where “recognition on the move” systems were installed in lecture halls, dormitories and university churches. Around 500 lecturers were reportedly trained to use the system to ensure the filtering of what were termed “undesirable persons”.
Epstein also lent Barak one million US dollars to invest in Reporty Homeland Security, later rebranded as Carbyne, an emergency response platform relying on smartphone data.
However, documents suggest these security partnerships were not an end in themselves, but rather bridges of influence. Barak’s security relationships were used to open doors to oil sector investments, reportedly with direct guidance from Epstein.
From Universities to Ports
In 2013, after Barak resigned as Israeli minister of war, Epstein assisted him in proposing joint projects with businessmen such as Viktor Vekselberg and Idan Ofer, drawing on a transcontinental network of relationships.
Barak travelled to Nigeria to attend an undisclosed cyber security conference, during which he met then president Goodluck Jonathan and senior military leaders. Following the conference, Jonathan made an official visit to Israel, the first of its kind. Subsequently, a 40 million US dollar internet monitoring system from Elbit Systems was installed despite parliamentary controversy.
In 2020, cooperation deepened through a World Bank backed partnership that included Israel’s National Cyber Directorate and the company Toka, co founded by Barak, aimed at developing Nigeria’s cyber infrastructure.
At this stage, Epstein’s role once again intersected with DP World’s interests. His longstanding friendship with bin Sulayem contributed to the formation of political and economic networks that preceded the Abraham Accords of 2020.
Strategic Expansion
Following the signing of the Abraham Accords in 2020, DP World submitted a bid to acquire Israel’s Haifa Port, which services operations linked to the Leviathan gas field in the Mediterranean Sea.
Although the deal was ultimately awarded to India’s Adani Group, the documents indicate that economic rapprochement between the UAE and Israel predated formal normalisation by several years. Parallel tracks combined security, energy and port interests within a network that connected Epstein, Barak and bin Sulayem.
