Director of the Nigerian Maritime Authority Dr. Bashir Jamoh called for more private sector involvement in the Blue Economy Initiative to reap more benefits from the maritime industry. As a guest speaker at the Lunch hour Lecture Series hosted by the Academy of Excellence in Lagos, Jamoh detailed the many untapped opportunities in the maritime industry. He argued that the navy blue project, under which the federal government provides air, land and water for maritime security, would make the industry safer and remove Nigeria from the list of countries with a high frequency of attacks.
He describes numerous opportunities in shipbuilding, ship repair and recycling as open areas that will benefit the economy in building corporate value chains and increasing foreign exchange earnings for public and private companies.
Looking at Nigeria’s maritime potential, Jamoh said in a statement from the agency that 28 of the 36 Commonwealth states have inland navigable waters that carry significant wealth-generating resources. He said NIMASA, under his leadership, has raised the awareness of state governors about the blue economy and encouraged them to bring the message to the citizens of the state. Nigeria’s waters are connected to five neighboring countries and attract other non-marine sectors such as agriculture, tourism and other commercial ventures.
The NIMASA General Directorate has identified ship ownership, handling, loading and unloading, freight forwarding, fisheries, marine biology, marine geology, hydroengineering, ship brokerage, import and export as sectors with great investment opportunities.
He announced that NIMASA hopes to revive Nigeria’s efforts to monetize legal bunkering services. Margaret Orakwusi, head of the Corporate Think Tank team, previously said it was a knowledge-sharing platform. He said: “The Corporate Think Tank was created by the Academy of Excellence to bring together experts and leaders from different disciplines to become a multidisciplinary platform to stimulate discussion of important and pressing national socio-economic issues. And this stimulates research and expert opinion to support and implement public policy,” Orakvusi said.
ENL Consortium CEO Vicky Haastrup also spoke at the event and praised Jamoh’s work as NIMASA CEO. He explained that the environmental sustainability of the port area deserves the government’s attention. He also called for more women to join the maritime industry, noting that women make up only 18% of the maritime industry.