The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency has alerted Belgian investors to the huge opportunities in its wreck removal and recycling area, asking them to take advantage of the federal government’s planned coordination of the area through the proposed National Maritime Transport Policy.
The Director General of NIMASA, Dr Bashir Jamoh, stat
Commending Belgium’s long-standing diplomatic and economic relations with Nigeria, he said the development of maritime infrastructure was part of the federal government’s economic diversification drive.
“The National Maritime Transport Policy, which is being developed, is part of a wider agenda purposed to build alternatives to oil,” said Jamoh in a statement by NIMASA.
He added, “The maritime sector is consciously being opened for investment by local and foreign investors to build a sustainable blue economy. One area I would like the Belgian private sector to come in is wreck removal and wreck recycling.
“There is a huge investment opportunity there, and also a big room for collaboration. This is more so as the Federal Government is planning a coordinated policy on wreck removal.”
Jamoh also sought Belgium’s partnership in the sea-time training of Nigerian seafarers and in port safety and security.
The Belgian delegation, including the Managing Director of APEC-Antwerp/Flanders Port Training Centre and Port of Antwerp International, Kristof Waterschoot, and Director at Port of Antwerp International, Mario Lievens, expressed an interest in the planned transport policy.
Waterschoot, who said they “believe in Nigeria,” disclosed that they were monitoring the policy to see how Belgium could come in with investments.
The Port of Antwerp International is a subsidiary of Port of Antwerp, Europe’s second-largest port.
It was established to expand the Port of Antwerp’s activities beyond Europe through consultancy, management solutions, investment projects, and training.
