Gilbert Ekugbe
Women in Maritime Africa (WIMA) Nigeria Chapter, has charged the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Gboyega Oyetola on the need to create the enabling environment for maritime operators to thrive.
The President, WIMA-Nigeria, Mrs. Rollens Macfoy, whomade the call during a press briefing in Lagos, lamented the high cost of doing business in the maritime industry, explaining that a conducive business community is the heart of any economy that seeks to diversify its economic revenue base.
According to her, the Minister should create a one-stop shop for barge operations in the country, bemoaning that it is presently very difficult to register barges and vessels in the country.
In her words, “Ease of doing business is the heart of any economy. A situation where it is so difficult to register barges, it is difficult to register vessels is not encouraging for stakeholders in the industry. We should have a one-stop shop for barge operations to ensure smooth operations, because at the end of day, it is the end user that takes it all the cost.”
She also called on the Minister to deepen his engagement with the critical stakeholders in the seafaring space, adding that seafaring is a very lucrative and viable sector that can earn foreign exchange for the nation.
“Seafarers should be critically taken care of. He must close meetings with people that are directly involved to know exactly what is going on. A lot is happening in the seafaring space which is so discouraging. A lot needs to be done because our children are going into these schools,” she lamented.
