The pleasant vibe of a huge Nigerian blue economy potential had been rising in popularity before the arrival of a full-fledged marine and blue economy ministry. Administration after administration touted sundry ideas on how to unfurl the latent capacity. They looked forward to a Nigerian maritime locale that would develop into a regional hub sought after by investors beyond the continent’s shores.
But it was President Bola Tinubu who took the bull by the horns, making a bold move towards a moment of fulfilment that had remained deferred for ages. He established the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, capturing the vision of a bubbly maritime economy under a formal institution with the specific mandate of driving its fulfilment.
The new fervour comes at a time when the Nigerian economy is in dire need of unplugging from a debilitating fate of near-total dependence on oil rents.
Maritime presents a historically germane alternative, ultimately, a good way to turn from oil.
So, when the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) birthed the modular floating dock project, it was welcomed as a strategic investment primed to be the nucleus of a buoyant maritime economy. The floating dock came with the promise of driving the making of a thriving maritime destination.
The NIMASA floating dock, a national asset with the capacity to handle vessels up to 10,000 metric tonnes, was proposed to operate under a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement.
The benefits of the project are legion.
The floating dock will enable vessel owners to dry-dock vessels domestically, thereby conserving foreign exchange and boosting indigenous capacity through ship ownership, construction, repair, manning, and other maritime essentials.
Other benefits include the creation of job opportunities, the provision of training opportunities for maritime students, and boosting maritime trade.
But the floating dock has faced deployment delays. Yet, it remains a veritable springboard for the actualisation of Tinubu’s blue economy desires. It is a good ground for the administration to take its first step towards building the robust marine economy that Nigeria needs.
Last year, upon his appointment as Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Dayo Mobereola assured his compatriots that the agency had renewed efforts to deploy the modular floating dock. Mobereola declared that the facility would surely be put into use.
He stated, “We are going to put the modular floating dock to very good use so that once it’s in operation, it will benefit the economy, seafarers, and NIMASA itself.
“We need to place the modular floating dock in an appropriate location. It is just a matter of time; we will soon get that done.”
Operation of the dock would require huge funding, and NIMASA may not be able to do it alone. Most African countries do not have floating docks due to the high cost in terms of acquisition and specialised infrastructure required for the operation.
Among the handful of countries on the continent that currently have floating docks, South Africa is said to lead, now followed by Nigeria, with the N50 billion modular floating dock. Which makes investment of funds and political will into the operation of the modular floating dock worthwhile.
The NIMASA modular floating dock is a new technology, called modular because it comes with segments. There are only two of such in Africa. Nigeria is the second country on the continent, after South Africa, to have that type of floating dock.
The West African country of Ghana has pursued its floating dock ambition with funding support from the African Development Bank (AfDB).
Last year, Ghana sealed a $94 million syndicated loan agreement with financiers for a new ship repair dock, securing the $137 million capital required for the project located in the country’s western port of Takoradi. The consortium of financiers included AfDB, African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), East and Southern African Trade and Development Bank, and Petra Pension Schemes.
Executive Vice President, Intra-African Trade and Export Development Bank, Afreximbank, Kanayo Awani, said regarding the Ghana floating dock project, “The strategic location of this facility will provide shipowners whose vessels trade within the Gulf of Guinea with world-class repair and maintenance services.”
Awani added that the financiers were confident that the facility “will enhance intra-African trade and foster regional economic growth and integration. By providing services that would have otherwise been lost to foreign shipyard repair facilities, the interventions…will retain much-needed foreign currency within the continent.”
With more than 70 per cent of cargo imported into West and Central Africa destined for Nigeria, and the country controlling a remarkable stretch of the Atlantic Ocean, Nigeria is certainly well positioned to reap impressively from not only the deployment and operation of the modular floating dock, but also expansion of the project.
The country can seek funding support from domestic and foreign entities.
NIMASA has secured the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Continental Shipyard for the floating dock, and it has gotten the necessary approvals from the Federal Ministry of Transportation and the Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC), which regulates PPP arrangements, for the engagement of managing partners.
After several missed deadlines on deployment and operation since the arrival of the floating dock in Nigeria in 2018, confidence in the project among industry stakeholders currently may not be particularly high. Some are recoiling at the seeming inertia of an economic springboard.
The current situation has elicited cries of frustration.
But with the renewed effort by Mobereola, there is optimism growing around the modular floating dock project.
The floating dock can initiate the momentum Tinubu needs to launch his administration’s marine and blue economy strategy.
Mobereola has shown much talent for delivering results in public office. He has occupied various leadership roles in Lagos State, such as Managing Director of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) (2003-2015) and Commissioner for Transportation (2015-2016).
Mobereola was Deputy Managing Director and Project Development Director at AFM Consulting Plc, London, and a Senior Economist at British Petroleum Shipping Limited, London.
He holds an MSc and a Ph.D in Transport Economics from the University of Wales, United Kingdom, and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Transport, both in Nigeria and England.
He has exposure in the areas of social development and welfare, maritime safety and security management, and maritime piracy and transnational criminal activities from work and study.
Coupled with his extensive expertise, he has proven to be darn good at innovative leadership and giving people reason to hope.
Mobereola has under his belt ample skills in transportation, business and strategic planning, operations management, consulting, and negotiation. These will come in handy as he navigates, under the guardian of Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, the path to deployment and operation of the NIMASA modular floating dock.
The future of Nigeria’s marine economy has a lot riding on the successful operation of this floating dock.
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