*Could the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement Succeed?

*How Prepared is Customs, SON, NAFDAC and other Agencies?

Gbemisola Saraki, Minister of State, transportation

Call it a National Transport Master Plan or National Maritime Transport Policy and you will not be wrong even as the Minister of State for Transportation, Senator Gbemisola Saraki, has disclosed that the National Maritime Transport Policy being developed by Nigeria would lead to improved Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) inflow and enhance the ability of the Nigerian maritime sector to compete internationally.

At a  meeting organized by the Federal Ministry of Transportation, FMOT, to get input, the minister said the transport policy is expected to usher in a regime of robust maritime transport system in the country in line with international best practice.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, Saraki said “The National Maritime Transport Policy is a framework that will guide and sharpen the activities, actors and modus operandi in the maritime sector. It is an all-encompassing document that will skyrocket the sector to compete favourably in the global market. That is why this   document is extremely important and crucial to the development of the sector.”

Expressing satisfaction with the planned document, Saraki added that  “It is encouraging to know that the maritime policy is coming up at a time when Nigeria has ratified the AfCTA Agreement and deposited it with the AU Secretariat. This is an agreement that will place Nigeria in place of leadership if we adequately prepare for the protocols. Therefore, it is expedient for us to make the maritime sector ready for the AfCFTA Transit Protocols and other international protocols for us to compete favourably in the regional and global market. This new Transport Policy change the narrative in the maritime sector of our dear country and result in a paradigm shift that is generational.”

Expressing her personal views,   Dr. Ajani said policy was the bedrock of development, and the condition of the maritime sector of a nation determined its future development.

In her words “Nigeria, like other nations, has recognized the integral role policies play in developmental process and, as such, engendered different processes to drive her quest for a sustainable, feasible and generic National Maritime Transport Policy. This will boost the maritime sector and widen the horizon to enable it serve the domestic market and have comparative advantage globally.”

Chairman of the National Maritime Transport Policy Committee, Dr. Paul Adalikwu, said, “The maritime sector cannot be administered successfully without a policy document that contains genuine, reliable and updated data” that can stand the test of time.

The  Director in charge of Maritime Safety and Security,  FMOT, said the maritime transport policy document aimed to develop “a maritime industry that is income generating, self-sufficient, competitive with comparative advantage in the regional and global markets.”

Recall that Nigeria deposited its instrument of ratification of the AfCFTA agreement on December 5, 2020, becoming the 34th member state to formally ratify the treaty.

The free trade area was created by the African Continental Free Trade Agreement among 54 of the African Union’s 55 member states. It is the world’s largest free trade area since the World Trade Organisation, and a game-changer in African and world trade, with a market of more than 1.2 billion people, about $3 trillion combined GDP, and the potential of growing intra-African trade by over 50 per cent, according to the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

Maritime CEOs, Ship Owners and Terminal Operators who attended the event were optimistic that the new Maritime Policy being canvassed by the FMOT will could be a game changer if properly articulated and professionally executed.