The National Maritime Transport Policy presently being developed in line with the Federal Government’s effort to grow maritime infrastructure has become of interest to Belgian investors as they now see windows of investment opportunities in the nation’s maritime industry, which would be created by the proposed transport policy.
This was part of the outcome of the meeting between the executive officers of the Port of Antwerp International in Lagos with Bashir Jamoh, director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA). The team of executives from the Port of Antwerp International had sought audience with the NIMASA Director-General to follow up on investment interests in Nigeria.
Kristof Waterschoot, managing director of APEC-Antwerp/Flanders Port Training Centre and Port of Antwerp International, and Mario Lievens, director at Port of Antwerp International, said they were also in Nigeria to promote new partnership opportunities, especially in the area of training.
Waterschoot and Lievens, who hosted Jamoh at the Nigerian Belgian Chamber of Commerce in Onikan, Lagos, said their mission was to discuss projects of interest, including inland ports, and to strengthen the relationship between the Port of Antwerp and NIMASA, particularly in the areas of training, technical support, and cooperation.
“We believe in Nigeria because the business climate here could be difficult, but there was hardly any country without its peculiar difficulties,” said Waterschoot.
Gbemisola Saraki, Minister of State for Transportation, said during a recent stakeholders’ validation forum on the draft transport policy, that the policy, when approved, would lead to improved Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow and enhance the ability of the Nigerian maritime sector to compete at the international level.
Meanwhile, Jamoh said there are also huge opportunities for investment in wreck removal and recycling, even as he disclosed that the Federal Government is planning a coordinated wreck removal policy to drive investment in that area.
He praised the long-standing diplomatic and economic relationship between Nigeria and Belgium. The NIMASA boss said the development of maritime infrastructure is part of the government’s economic diversification drive.
“The National Maritime Transport Policy, which is being developed, is part of a wider agenda purposed to build alternatives to oil. The maritime sector is consciously being opened for investment by local and foreign investors to build a sustainable blue economy. One area I would like the Belgian private sector to come in is wreck removal and wreck recycling. There is a huge investment opportunity there, and there is also a big room for collaboration,” he added.
Jamoh also sought Belgian partnership in the sea-time training of Nigerian seafarers as well as in the area of port safety and security.
The Port of Antwerp International is a subsidiary of Port of Antwerp, Europe’s second largest port – after Port of Rotterdam in the Netherlands. It was established to expand the activities of the Port of Antwerp beyond Europe through consultancy, management solutions, investment projects and training.
