Summit to Revolutionise Nigeria’s Maritime Sector

Worried over the nation’s maritime potentials currently being sub-optimally realised, organisers of the Nigeria International Maritime Summit (NIMS) has stated that the summit scheduled to hold on the 5th-6th October, 2021 in Lagos is expected transform Nigeria’s maritime sector.

Besides, Nigeria is naturally positioned to be the regional hub for shipping and maritime trade in the west and central African region.

The Chairperson, Planning Committee, NIMS, Mfon Usoro, at a press briefing to herald the forthcoming event themed, “Becoming a Regional Maritime Superpower,” stated the need for improved governance, development of requisite assets and infrastructure, skills development and collaboration.

“At the end of the summit, it is expected that an actionable roadmap for achieving maritime industry development will be in sight. This will include an identification of significant challenges and strategies for confronting them. It is also expected that the foundation for value-adding partnerships would have been laid for business-to-business, business-to-government and government-to-government interfaces, “she said.

She said the summit aims to facilitate the knowledge base on which a national strategy for harnessing Nigeria’s maritime potentials can be built and would feature governments, development organisations and private sector decision makers to provide insights on carefully curated sessions that focus on the most important development needs and challenges of the Nigerian maritime industry in the context of regional strategies and international commitments.

She said Nigeria’s strong cargo volumes (dry and wet), extensive coastline in the heart of the Gulf of Guinea, wide network of inland waterways in addition to robust upstream and downstream oil industry activities all contribute to making the Nigerian shipping market very attractive.

“As a major player in the global oil and gas space, the shipping and maritime component of Nigeria’s petroleum industry valued at over $8 billion in 2019 is projected to expand and diversify in the near term. As the region’s leading economy, optimisation of the Nigerian maritime market will be of benefit to trade in West and Central Africa,” she said.

According to her, international trade data shows an abysmal level of intra-African trade, occasioned largely by limited intra-regional logistics and shipping connections, saying that following the 2012 adoption of a decision by the 18″ Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Governments of the African Union to establish ACFTA and the eventual commencement of the initiative in January 2021, the continent has clearly signposted its readiness for pan-African trade.

“This flows from findings which show that intra-African trade remains abysmal due to limited intra-regional logistics and shipping connections. The organic development of some maritime capabilities in Nigeria including bunker services, marine surveys, ship management, shipping finance, legal services, stevedoring, seafaring, freight forwarding shipyard and docking services amongst will have a positive knock-on effect on West and Central Africa,” she added.