Succour is underway for the maritime industry in Nigeria as a regional maritime bank has berthed in the country, industry experts have revealed.
The bank is a specialised multilateral development financial institution being berthed to ameliorate funding challenges in the industry which has all the potential to deepen the economy, generate foreign exchange and create jobs.
The new bank, according to the experts is the brainchild of countries in the West and Central African regions that was mooted over a decade ago, when the Federal Government of Nigeria agreed to host the headquarters of the Bank.
“But this was followed by years of inaction until recently when the Presidency and the Minister of Transport galvanised activities towards the setting up of the bank,” an expert in the industry said on condition of anonymity.
It is expected that the bank will have as its primary focus on the funding of maritime and ports infrastructure, acquisition of cabotage, ocean-going and crude oil vessels, aquaculture, human capacity development and deepening of the maritime value chain.
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“Eight key countries in the West and Central Africa have signed up to join the bank and capital raising exercise is ongoing with close to Usd500million in commitments already being offered by funding partners to financing projects,” the expert revealed.
The Maritime sector is projected to contribute about $100b annually to regional GDP if properly harnessed.
Substantial work has been done on the bank in the past three years and it is expected that indigenous players will now have a vehicle to approach for dedicated maritime funding and shake off the issues of short-dated funding, currency mismatch, high pricing and unrealistic collateral requirements.
Bringing in more local players will have a massive impact on the sector, generating forex, creating jobs and indeed significantly impacting national development.
