The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi has stated that the Nigerian maritime sector is a haven of opportunities for the world maritime industry to tap into.
The Minister who made this known while speaking at the “Africa @ Nor” session of the recently concluded Nor-Shipping 2017 which held at Lillstrome, Norway, assured the audience that Nigeria is a strategic destination for investment opportunities, stressing that Nigeria epitomizes a broad spectrum of the continent in Africa.
“Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with about 183 million people and by extension, with the cumulative population of two landlocked countries of Chad Republic which is 14.9m people and Niger Republic with 21.3m people, creates a huge consuming market and comparable cheap labour”, he said.
Amaechi also used the opportunity to assure the Nor-Shipping participants that the anti-corruption stance of the Federal Government and the establishment of the National Trade Data Centre are expected to eliminate inherent corporate governance abuses and assured investors that they will have good returns on their investments.
In the same vein, the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Dakuku Peterside stated that Nigeria as a maritime nation is endowed by nature with over 850 kilometers of coastline.
He further pointed out that the country has six modern port complexes and a fast developing intermodal transport system as well as abundant trained workforce combined with a standard regulatory regime amongst others which are benefits accruable to investing in the Nigeria maritime sector.
He hinted that Nigeria would soon take delivery of the fifth largest floating dock in Africa, which would be delivered by the last quarter of the year.
The NIMASA DG also identified the key areas of achieving a hub status such as; putting the right infrastructure in place, right regulatory regime and a proper maritime security.
