Being an tackle by Akutah Pius Ukeyima, government secretary/CEO, Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), at The ICC Nigeria Submit AGM speak held lately at NECA Home, Alausa Ikeja, Lagos.
The theme of at this time’s gathering, ‘Delivery and Maritime Commerce: The Spine of Worldwide Commerce,’ isn’t solely apt, however pertinent because it underscores the important position maritime commerce performs in facilitating international commerce and sustaining financial progress throughout nations.
In accordance with the United Nations Convention on Commerce and Improvement (UNCTAD), greater than 80% of world commerce by quantity and over 70% by worth is carried by sea. This actuality underscores the strategic position of transport in driving cross-border commerce, sustaining international provide chains, and guaranteeing financial interconnectivity.
In accordance with UNCTAD, in 2023 alone, over 11.1 billion metric tonnes of products have been moved globally through maritime transport, powered by greater than 105,000 business vessels. From vitality to electronics, from uncooked supplies to completed items, the ocean stays the world’s most cost-effective, scalable, and dependable commerce conduit.
Figures from the World Commerce Group (WTO) and the World Financial institution, indicated that maritime commerce not directly helps 22% of world GDP, accounting for over $24 trillion of the estimated $110 trillion international GDP in 2024.
For Nigeria, a rustic blessed with over 853 kilometres of shoreline, 6 main seaports, 10,000 kilometers of inland waterways, and a dynamic client market, transport isn’t a peripheral sector, it’s a strategic enabler of progress. Our nationwide prosperity is inextricably linked to the efficiency of the maritime sector. It influences: (i) the price and movement of imported inputs and exports, (ii) the viability of producing and industrial zones, (iii) total ease of doing enterprise throughout our borders, and (iv) competitiveness of Nigerian items in regional markets.
The maritime trade is due to this fact not simply an financial asset, it’s a nationwide improvement platform driving job creation, facilitating regional integration, supporting industrial progress, and strengthening the nation’s strategic place within the international financial system.
In recognition of this potential, the Federal Authorities, below the management of His Excellency, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, established the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Financial system with His Excellency, Adegboyega Oyetola CON as pioneer Minister, to totally harness the sector’s huge potential in Nigeria and reposition identical as a driver of non-oil progress, innovation, and environmental sustainability.
The Blue Financial system represents the sustainable use of ocean and inland water assets to drive financial improvement whereas preserving marine ecosystems. It encompasses: Maritime transport and port providers, Fisheries and aquaculture, Marine tourism and shipbuilding, Offshore vitality and seabed assets, and Coastal resilience and local weather adaptation.
The Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), as a regulatory and facilitative company below this new Ministry, performs a number one position in: Creating truthful and clear port techniques; Selling environmentally accountable logistics practices; Facilitating cost-effective cargo dealing with and inland connectivity; and guaranteeing that every one actors within the maritime ecosystem function by international requirements.
African Continental Free Commerce Space (AfCFTA): Nigeria’s strategic lever
Intra-African commerce presently accounts for lower than 18% of the continent’s complete commerce. Nevertheless, the implementation of the African Continental Free Commerce Space (AfCFTA), with a market measurement of 1.4 billion individuals and a mixed GDP of $3.4 trillion, is poised to vary that and maritime transport would be the lifeline of AfCFTA’s success.
Nigeria should place itself because the regional hub for transshipment, logistics, and commerce facilitation. To do that, we should: Modernize our ports and customs processes; Promote multimodal connectivity from seaports to industrial clusters and border posts; Harmonize tariffs and documentation with neighbouring economies; and Scale back obstacles that hinder our exports and transit visitors.
The Nigerian Shippers’ Council is actively supporting these aims by way of: Advocacy for seamless cargo corridors; Facilitation of stakeholder compliance with regional commerce guidelines; and Promotion of commerce infrastructure that advantages landlocked nations and regional commerce routes.
NSC’s core mandate: regulation, facilitation and safety
Because the Port Financial Regulator of Nigeria, the NSC is remitted to make sure: Honest pricing and elimination of arbitrary costs; Environment friendly port operations and repair requirements; Safety of cargo curiosity; and Dispute prevention and determination inside the maritime and logistics chain.
-Commerce facilitation
We’re championing reforms that cut back delays, remove inefficiencies, and simplify processes. Key interventions embrace: Main the Nationwide Single Window (NSW) implementation; Monitoring port efficiency; Driving course of harmonization by way of the Nigerian Ports Course of Guide (NPPM); and collaborating with different MDAs to entrench Commonplace Working Procedures (SOPs) throughout ports and terminals.
-Financial regulation and foreign exchange safety
The Council evaluates freight charges, terminal costs, and demurrage claims to make sure financial reasonableness. In 2024 alone, we helped stop the repatriation of about ₦52 billion in questionable overseas trade claims by way of our Financial Regulatory Portal (ERP), thus strengthening the nationwide financial system and selling price predictability.
-Mediation and dispute decision
Our Various Dispute Decision (ADR) mechanism gives a clear, time-efficient, and non-adversarial platform to resolve complaints between port customers and repair suppliers. In 2024, our intervention led to the restoration of over ₦2 billion for shippers and cargo house owners.
-Shopper safety and competitors
The NSC enforces guidelines to stop monopoly abuse and defend cargo house owners, particularly MSMEs, from unfair therapy. We examine complaints, have interaction stakeholders, and impose vital regulatory actions to uphold aggressive market behaviour.
Digitization and know-how: Modernizing the regulatory panorama
Know-how is remodeling commerce and we’re responding boldly. Digitization is central to the NSC’s imaginative and prescient of a clear, responsive, and data-driven regulatory framework. A few of our milestones and ongoing tasks embrace: Full automation of service platforms for registration, monitoring, and verification; Actual-time on-line criticism submission and determination; Integration with port group techniques and fee platforms; and Deliberate deployment of AI and blockchain options for regulatory oversight, predictive analytics, and cargo traceability.
Know-how is not optionally available. It’s the driver of effectivity, transparency, and stakeholder belief.
Ports, infrastructure, and inland connectivity
Fashionable ports are the brand new factories. With out environment friendly cargo evacuation and inland distribution networks, our ports will stay bottlenecks as an alternative of enablers. That’s the reason the Council prioritizes: Improvement of Inland Dry Ports (IDPs) to function satellite tv for pc cargo hubs in key financial zones like Kaduna, Kano, Aba, Ibadan, Funtua, Jos, and Maiduguri; Promotion of Car Transit Areas (VTAs) to prepare haulage visitors and improve logistics security; Advocacy for rail-port integration and intermodal linkages to maneuver bulk cargo effectively; and Assist for Border Data Centres (BICs) to information regional merchants on compliance, requirements, and AfCFTA protocols.
We’re constructing an built-in logistics system that helps inclusive commerce, export diversification, and regional worth chain participation.
Conclusion – A name to collaborate for competitiveness
Women and gents, as Nigeria aspires to construct a $1 trillion financial system, we should acknowledge that no ambition of industrialization, export progress, or financial diversification can succeed with no aggressive maritime and logistics system.
On the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, we’re redefining regulation, not as management, however as empowerment, transparency, and safety. We’re constructing partnerships that help public objectives and personal funding. We’re deepening institutional reforms to draw innovation and foster belief.
Allow us to due to this fact work collectively, throughout authorities, non-public sector, and improvement companions, to construct a transport and maritime sector that serves not solely Nigeria’s current wants, but additionally its future as a regional chief and international commerce participant.
In that spirit, I prolong a heat invitation to the Worldwide Chamber of Commerce (Nigeria) to think about the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as a strategic companion. Our shared values round truthful commerce, environment friendly logistics, and personal sector improvement makes us pure allies. Collectively, we will construct frameworks that not solely strengthen Nigeria’s commerce ecosystem, however contribute meaningfully to international requirements, resilience, and progress.
