About 95 percent of African-owned ships are registered and flagging the flag of a Western African nation, according to data from the United Nations Trade and Development.
The United Nations Trade and Development’s annual merchant fleet by flag of registration and type of ship shows that a total of 419,821 ships are registered in the West African sub-region representing 94 percent of the 447,885 ships that are currently registered in Africa in 2024.
This was followed by ships registered in the Middle Eastern region which represents 15,284 African-registered ships about 3.4 percent of entire African-owned ships while ships registered and flagged in Northern Africa totalled 3,914 representing 0.9 percent of the continent total in 2024.
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The ship registry of countries in the Southern African region is still playing catch up with their counterparts in the West, Middle East, and Northern region as a total of 544 ships representing 0.12 percent of the continent total are registered and flagged in countries in Southern African region.
A breakdown of the data shows that West African countries such as Liberia, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, and Togo are at the top, with Liberian-registered and flagged ships controlling the chart.
Liberian flagged ships control 97 percent of vessels registered in West African nations and 91 percent of vessels registered in the continent in 2024; Nigerian flagged ships control 1.4 percent in West Africa and 1.3 percent in the continent; Gabon controls 1.3 percent in both the sub-region and the continent as well while Sierra Leone flagged ships controls about 0.6 percent in both West African sub-region and the continent.
In the northern African sub-region, countries such as Libya and Egypt lead as nations with more registered and flagged ships while Djibouti and Comoros lead in eastern Africa. Cameron and Gabon are in the lead in Middle Africa as nations with the most registered and flagged vessels.
Why ships register and flag Liberia
Liberia has one of the world’s most successful merchant fleets as one in every 10 ships on the ocean is flagged Liberia. The country operates an Open Registry, making it easy for foreign ships to register and flag Liberian.
Liberia just like Panama is among the ‘flags of convenience’ as reports have it that ships register Liberia to save loads of money on labour.
The Liberian ship registry was reported to have been set up by US shipowners after World War II, and it’s cheaper than nearly any other registry in the world.
Liberia had few regulations, which made it easy for shipowners to sign up. According to reports, this allowed them to avoid taxes and labour laws back in their home countries.
How to make the Nigerian ship registry competitive
Nigeria’s ship registry has been playing catch up with the Liberian registry as the African most populous nation controls a meager 1.4 percent of ships registered in the region and 1.3 percent of the continent total.
Nigeria operates a Closed Registry with about 5,907 active vessels of various capacities including oil tankers, general cargo, and other types of ships.
In 2019, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) ranked the Nigerian Ship Registry number two in Africa after Liberia and 46 in the world.
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Today, the Nigerian registry ranks about third in the region after Liberia and Cameron registries.
Several industry stakeholders have called for the automation of Nigeria’s ship registry to streamline processes, drive ease of doing business, and boost shipping development in Nigeria.
Abdul-Kadir Ahmed, managing director of the NLNG Shipping and Marine Services Ltd (NSML), once told BusinessDay in an interview that Nigeria needs to make the process of ship inspection acceptance to the global maritime community.
According to him, the flag state control ensures that ships registered under a flag are run, maintained, and operated by standards and that Nigeria’s inspection process must be acceptable.
“The regulator must put in place the physical element, the system, the process, and all that goes into ensuring that inspection is done effectively in line with international standards.
“There are international regulations and standards that need to be domiciled locally. For those international laws to apply in Nigeria, they need to become Nigerian laws,” he said.
He said there is a need to declare Nigeria a maritime nation, which goes beyond the declaration to include putting ‘our house in order’.
