The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has said that a joint committee of the agency and other relevant stakeholders will be inaugurated in July to commence the process of Cabotage cessation.
The Head Cabotage cassation, at NIMASA, Mr. Victor Egejuru who said this in a chat with Shipping Position Daily in Lagos last week, also said that the planned cessation of Cabotage will be private-sector driven.
He also disclosed that direct foreign investment for ship building and repairs will be facilitated by the committee.
He said: “We also had stakeholder’s consultative meetings to consider and discuss the strategies in April this year in Lagos. A joint committee of NIMASA and relevant stakeholders will be inaugurated in July to drive the process, so there is private sector partnership in this regards”
“The database of Cabotage operators is being established fast from July 2019. Direct investment in Nigeria for ship building and repairs by foreign ship building and repair yards will be facilitated by the committee”, he added.
Egejuru, however said that technology and automation of ship registry will be used to drive the strategic plans, even as he added that the agency will engage other relevant government agencies.
“Technology and automation of the ship registry will be used to drive the strategic plans and online registration of vessels. NIMASA is engaging the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Nigeria Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and Nigerian Immigration Service and other relevant government agencies to key into these strategic plans and they are all doing that at the moment”
Speaking further, he added that one of the responsibilities of the committee will include understudying of what other maritime nations have been doing to succeed.
“There will be an understudy of what other maritime nations have been doing to succeed in the implementation of their Cabotage laws, which has begun and this will also be concluded by the committee”
According to him, “Evaluation of the implementation of the strategic plans will be carried out every six months, tasks and deadline of the formats of each activity with the identified partners will be set by the committee”
“All previous reports of various activities of stakeholders’ engagement of capacity building will be reviewed for possible adoption. The emphasis is on capacity building because, if we don’t have capacity we cannot even implement this. Awareness of the investment opportunities in the maritime sector will be facilitated by the committee”, he added.
Explaining further he said, that a joint venture partnership between foreigners and Nigerian maritime sector will be facilitated by the committee.
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