The Maritime sector has been identified as a potent force that has the potenial to drive the Federal Government’s economic diversification agenda.
This was the position of the Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Bashir Jamoh and other stakeholders at a paper presentation in Abuja.
Delivering a paper at the National Defence College (NDC) titled: “Maritime Security and National Development in Nigeria: The Role of NIMASA”, for NDC Course 29 participants, Jamoh said many countries were proposing to ban the use of fossil fuels, with the world transiting from oil to renewable energy.
According to him, maritime has enormous potential to drive sustainable development with huge investment opportunities in shipbuilding and repairs, offshore/floating spare parts sales and maintenance, freshwater bunkering and supply, dredging, and inland waterways transportation. While stating that about 75 percent of Gulf of Guinea-bound cargoes are destined for Nigeria, he said if properly harnessed, maritime could give the country 30 times more revenue than oil.
With a coastline of 852 kilometres bordering the Atlantic Ocean in the Gulf of Guinea and a maritime area of over 46,000 km2, Nigeria is no doubt blessed as a maritime nation with abundant resources to back its economic diversification and development drive.
Also, the country is endowed with mangrove swamps, creeks, coastal rivers, estuaries, bays, and near and offshore waters. Moreso, eight of the 36 states, with 25 per cent of the population, share the Atlantic Ocean coastline.
Maritime News
Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Director-General, Dr. Bashir Jamoh
Currently, the global energy economy is undergoing a rapid transition, as over 14 countries and more than 20 cities around the world have proposed banning the sale of passenger vehicles powered by fossil fuels – petrol, liquefied petroleum gas, and diesel at some point in the future.
However, some oil producing countries around the world have started to think out of the box to see where they have a comparative advantage in other sectors. Going by this global trend, Nigeria cannot afford to be left out of this transition, as the maritime sector is being described as one of the major areas where its comparative advantage lies.
For the country not to be at the mercy of other nations, findings revealed that NIMASA has embarked on improving security and infrastructure in the sector. Part of the aims of the development is to tackle security issues and to ensure that Nigerian waters are safe and secured for international trade.
The Vice-President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Dr Kayode Farinto, said given the nation’s potential on the ocean economy, there is no better time than now for government to support NIMASA in improving on maritime infrastructure to harness the sector’s full potential.
Findings revealed that the enormous economic resources in the nation’s waters can give the country 30 times more than what it gets from oil annually.
“For Nigeria to be effectively referred to, or maintain her status as a maritime nation, it must have vessels—merchant shipping vessels for carriage of her petroleum products and other cargoes generated in the country.
According to him, the advantages of having a national carrier are beyond the earnings from freight, but would include profound impact on the economy of the country.
He said: “The disadvantage Nigeria has in international trade is due to lack of vessels to carry her cargoes. If we have Nigerians to carry these cargoes, Nigeria will be able to influence positively terms of trade, its terms of carriage—contracts of afreightment, and its effects on the economy. Besides, the focus of economic diversification mustthe maritime industry.
“If Nigerians own vessels, they carry products, compete internationally, it therefore means that there are a lot of industries that will benefit or that will spring up, such as stevedoring companies, Nigerian insurance companies will automatically be involved in insuring or in the risk taking of the freight and this means financial growth for the insurance, the banks and other financial institutions apart from promoting peace and stability in the country.
Creation of genuine shipping industry
Currently, the country cannot claim to have a viable and an active shipping industry. This situation is, no doubt, a very big issue that needs to be addressed, as the country has a vast coastal stretch of about 870 kilometres. Indigenous ship owners have consistently maintained that if properly harnessed, a maritime lawyer, Dr Dipo Alaka, said the shipping sub sector can employ over five million Nigerians while saving the country trillions of naira in capital flight.
Other stakeholders, including experts, indigenous ship owners and relevant agencies of government have a common opinion about how the country is losing billions of naira annually for not putting its maritime sector at the reach of her citizens.
“While the various interests give different figures as to what the country loses annually to foreign-flagged vessels, the fact remains that what the country loses for not having a national shipping carrier in monetary and employment terms is unquantifiable,” Alaka said
According to him, about 80 per cent of the world trade by weight is done by sea. In the case of our country, over 80 per cent is done by sea. “Despite this huge potential, local capacity in the maritime industry remains despiteful. Nigeria imports over 100 million tonnes of cargo and general goods annually,” he said
Challenges of economic diversification through maritime:
“In recent years, maritime trade has become a ubiquitous vehicle for economic development and diversification and, for many regions and countries both in the developed and less developed worlds, the sector has become an integral element of economic development policy. Even those countries that, in the past, have had neither the desire nor the need to seek alternative economic sectors increasingly have been turning to maritime as a potentially effective means of achieving economic.
– The Nation