As part of efforts to guide investors and encourage more participation in the maritime industry, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has set the tone with the unveiling of the 2019-2020 maritime forecasts.
The forecast is intended to give direction to operators and investors, both local and international, as to what should be expected within the period of the forecast.
Speaking shortly after the unveiling of the document in Lagos recently, the Director-General, NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, opined that the maritime sector had the potential of increasing greatly its contribution to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product in no distant future, as the country had the biggest market in Africa.
He noted that the country “generates about 65-67 per cent of cargo throughput in West Africa, and 65 per cent of all cargo heading for these regions will most likely end up in the Nigerian market.”
At the event tagged, “Harnessing the Maritime and Shipping Sector for Sustainable Growth,” the DG pointed out that the maritime sector remained a pivot to the stability and growth of the economy, hence the need to provide guidance to industry players as it would attract more foreign direct investment and ultimately improve the nation’s GDP.
“The 2019-2020 Forecast is focusing on harnessing the shipping and maritime sector for sustainable growth. Essentially, the forecast will be addressing: how emerging trends in the global maritime industry affect the maritime sector in Nigeria; and what domestic factors will influence the maritime sector in Nigeria,” he said.
The industry forecast, released by the Agency, also noted that for Nigerians to actively participate in the maritime and shipping sector, asset acquisition and human capacity development were important.
The NIMASA DG assured stakeholders that the agency would continue to push for reforms to assist develop indigenous capacity in the shipping and maritime sector to ensure a high level playing field for operators, adding that the 2019-2020 periods were full of hope for investors.
While noting that the drivers of the macroeconomic outlook for 2019 would include the general elections and its aftermath, prices of crude oil and policy imperatives such as fiscal, monetary and regulatory, Dakuku disclosed that the maritime forecast model, adopted by NIMASA, projected an increase in demand for maritime services in Nigeria, considering the global and domestic economic
conditions.
On the regulatory aspect of the 2019 forecast, the DG added that it was expected that the Suppression of Piracy and other Maritime Offences Bill (Anti-Piracy) would be passed into law within the margin of the 8th National Assembly to provide a robust and detailed framework to criminalise 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.
He, therefore, said that these would provide the necessary assurance to foreign investors that Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea, to a large extent, were a safe hub for International trade. 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 Ports and Harbour Bill.
The challenges highlighted for stakeholders in the Nigerian maritime sector to contend with in 2019 include funding, ethnological change, supply of specialised maritime industry skillset, and efficiency of Ports and Shipping Companies amongst others.
In the aspect of funding, the DG, who observed that the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund was not adequate to handle the huge demand for maritime assets, noted that the Agency was working with the Central Bank of Nigeria and the Federal Ministry of Finance to push for funds at single digit interest rate.
It is instructive to note that the domestic conditions for the maritime sector in 2019 looks tighter, considering the budgetary proposal of N8.83 trillion, when compared to the approved
N9.12trillion appropriated in the 2018 national
budget.
