Nigeria needs to formalise maritime trade to cut revenue loss – CILT

Stakeholders in the maritime and logistics sector have called for urgent reforms to formalise coastal trade along the Gulf of Guinea, warning that Nigeria is losing significant revenue to informal cross-border commerce despite its strategic maritime advantage.

The call was made at the 2026 Conference of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Nigeria (CILT), Cross River State Chapter held in Calabar with the theme, “Promoting Coastal Maritime Trade with Littoral Countries Along the Gulf of Guinea.”

Speaking at the Conference, Boboye Oyeyemi, National President of CILT Nigeria, said Nigeria’s 800-kilometre coastline, major ports and inland waterways positioned the country to lead maritime trade within the Gulf of Guinea region.

Oyeyemi, however, lamented that weak policy coordination and the dominance of informal trade with neighbouring Countries such as Cameroon, Ghana, Benin and Togo had continued to deny Nigeria the full economic benefits of regional commerce.

“The conversion of informal trade to formal trade is what will give us prosperity. Nigeria is the greatest loser because most of these goods move informally and do not reflect in the GDP,” he said.

He urged the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, Customs Authorities and other Agencies to harmonise trade documentation and create policies that would strengthen formal coastal trade across the Gulf of Guinea.

The former Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps also identified weak indigenous shipping capacity, high port charges, poor rail connectivity and overloaded trucks on highways as major obstacles to efficient maritime trade operations.

According to him, the absence of an effective multimodal transport system has worsened road deterioration nationwide, as cargo that should be moved by rail continues to be transported by heavy-duty trucks.

Oyeyemi further called on the Cross River State Government to reposition Calabar Port as a regional maritime hub through strategic investments in infrastructure, inland waterways and logistics systems.

Aniefiok Iton, Chairman of CILT Calabar Branch, described the Conference as a strategic platform for advancing maritime trade, regional integration and transport development within the Gulf of Guinea corridor.

Iton said Cross River State remained strategically positioned to drive regional maritime commerce through its coastline, navigable waterways and access to sea, rail, air and pipeline transport networks, stressing that stronger partnerships among governments and private investors were needed to unlock the sector’s full potential.

Representing Governor Bassey Otu, the Commissioner for Transport, Ekpenyong Cobham, said the state government had already begun efforts to reposition Cross River as a maritime and logistics hub in the Gulf of Guinea.

Cobham disclosed that a pre-feasibility study conducted by the state showed that Ikang Beach in Bakassi records about 1,940 daily passengers, compared to 827 passengers in Calabar, describing it as evidence of increasing maritime transport activities and economic opportunities within the coastal corridor.

He added that the proposed Bakassi Deep Sea Port would drive industrialisation, create jobs and support export-oriented industries, agro-processing, cargo handling, warehousing, shipping services and regional trade integration across the Gulf of Guinea.