The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has unveiled the 2019/2020 Maritime Industry Forecast, which essentially predicted a 10% growth in cargo volumes as well as an increase in opportunities for practitioners.
While presenting the forecast titled: "Harnessing the Maritime and Shipping Sector For Sustainable Growth" in Lagos yesterday, foremost Statistician and Partner, Kainos Edge Consulting; Dr Doyin Salami said that Nigerian economy would experience a faster growth in the year under review and an increase in demands for shipping services.
He charged every stakeholder in the sector to up their game in order to harness the opportunities and meet the demands.
"Nigeria as an economy is recovering, in 2018, we had seen growth in each of the three quarters for which data is available we expect to see data for the last quarter and probably see growth lesser than 2%"
"But for 2019, we expect growth to be a touch faster, not significantly, but a touch faster, meaning that the opportunities in the maritime sector would increase"
"The demand for maritime infrastructure would grow simply because we expect to see about 10% more tonnage coming through Nigeria ports, and this therefore means that everyone in the industry would have to up their game, not just in terms of infrastructure and services, in order to meet the demand that we expect"
On his part, the Director General of NIMASA; Dr Dakuku Peterside disclosed that the much-touted proceeds from the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) is inadequate if the Nigerian maritime industry is to have sufficient assets.
He noted that asset building and acquisition were critical elements in the quest by Nigerians to play a major role the maritime and shipping sector of the nation’s economy. He added that apart from asset acquisition, human capacity development is also important.
According to Dr Dakuku, “it is a known fact that shipping is capital intensive, the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) is not adequate to address the huge demand for maritime asset, so in addition, NIMASA is looking at other Ship Financing Models”.
“That is why we have been engaging with government at the highest level to push for special intervention fund, special interest rate and other incentives that will drive optimal performance in the sector”, he assured.
“We shall not relent in our drive to put the right framework together to help beneficiaries and investors have good return on investment. The Country is also making huge investments in human capacity development in the Sector which means that more Nigerians will get involved in shipping especially in shipping operations”
The NIMASA DG however cautioned that the expected growth in the maritime sector may be unachievable if there is no reduction in maritime crimes, especially piracy. There will be reduction in ship traffic if piracy persists, so much so that Cabotage vessels will even be affected, he added.
He told the elite gartering that, “it is expected that the Suppression of Piracy and other Maritime offenses Bill (Anti-Piracy) will be passed into law within the margin of the 8th National Assembly to provide a robust and detailed framework to criminalize and punish piracy and unlawful acts in the Nigerian maritime domain as well as give further expression to the relevant provisions of the International Maritime Convention on maritime security to which Nigeria is a party”.
“This will also provide the necessary assurance to foreign investors that Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea to a large extent is a safe hub for International trade”, he stressed.
According to him, other Bills that would impact on the sector are: National Transport Commission Bill, Petroleum Industry Governance Bill, National Inland Waterways Authority Amendment Bill, Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Amendment/Revised Bill and the Ports and Harbour Bill.
Speaking further on details of the forecast, Dr Salami stated that the upcoming general elections could also determine the face of the economy and the maritime sector.
Speaking earlier, Minister of Transportation; Mr Rotimi Amaechi who was represented at the event by Deputy Director of Cabotage and Shipping Services; Mrs Gloria Ayabie said the 2019 forecast is meant to guide maritime industry stakeholders and expose them to available opportunities.
He assured that the Anti-Piracy Bill before the National Assembly is receiving adequate attention, even as he said that Federal Government has signed an agreement with a security firm, Messrs HLS to establish an integrated national security and water protection infrastructure in Nigeria to ensure security in the national maritime domain.
He assured that the execution of the contract is ongoing.
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