The Nigerian maritime industry is set to play a pivotal role in the Federal Government’s ambitious target of achieving a $1 trillion economic growth by 2027. The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Pius Akuta, revealed this during a courtesy visit to the Tincan Island Container Terminal Limited in Lagos on Thursday.
President Bola Tinubu had previously announced the government’s commitment to elevating Nigeria into a $1 trillion economy within the next three years, specifically by 2027. Acknowledging this vision, Akuta emphasized the significance of the marine and blue economy ministry in driving the nation towards this economic milestone.
“Mr. President and his new hope agenda for this country are looking at moving from a $500 billion economy to a $1 trillion economy by the end of four years. And the marine and blue economy ministry is one of the pivotal ministries that would drive this economy to that extent,” stated Akuta during the tour.
The NSC boss highlighted the government’s focus on private sector collaboration to rebuild the maritime sector. He mentioned that the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, His Excellency Oyetola, is working on developing a comprehensive blueprint and a new policy document. This initiative aims to address infrastructure deficits, decay, and the automation of port systems, ensuring a holistic approach to overcome persistent challenges.
“The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, His Excellency Oyetola, is already looking at developing a holistic blueprint, a new policy document that would capture all of those infrastructure deficits, infrastructure decay, and automation of the systems in the port so that at the end of the day, it would not be taking one issue and trying to fix it when the other problems are still persisting. But we have to look at the whole system holistically and see what can be done,” Akuta added.
Etienne Rocher, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Tincan Island Container Terminal Limited, stressed the importance of rehabilitating and modernizing Lagos Ports. He emphasized that these efforts are critical to meeting the requirements that will attract shipping lines and make Nigeria competitive in West and Central Africa.
