NSC, Foreign Affairs ministry move to boost Nigerian shippers trading globally

The Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs have entered into a partnership in a bid to boost the country’s port economy through improved bilateral relationships, especially with countries that are well developed in the blue economy.

Speaking while on a courtesy visit to the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar, on Friday in Abuja, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Dr. Pius Akutah said the Council is seeking to grow the confidence of the global market to Nigerian products.

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He said, “Our concern actually is to see to the economy of the port, and since the attention of Mr. President is for the port to ensure businesses come in and out of Nigeria, we believe that we have every reason to deepen our partnership with the ministry of Foreign Affairs to ensure that we go into the era of economic diplomacy with other countries using the global network of the ministry.

“So that is one of the major reasons why we are here this morning, I must say that some of the areas that we must leverage your foreign policy initiatives will be in the area of bilateral diplomacy and agreements.

“We have the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, which we have signed, and as Nigeria becomes a part of that agreement, we must also begin to put our house in order by strengthening Agencies of government collaboration so that when the time comes, we are able to adequately support each other.

“We are also looking at the role of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the agreements that we have signed. What is the role that we need to start playing as agencies of government in a collaborative manner, and also the International Maritime Organization (IMO) convention, what are the negotiations that we need to begin to look at in order to drive our own domestic policies to be in line with their own policies going forward.

“We are also looking at the issue of overseas threats in order to support Nigerian shippers, because many of our shippers complain about certain constraints that they have in their activities outside of the country. We are thinking that with your support (referring to the Minister), we can have a liaison desk in your embassies that supports the Nigerian shippers, especially in countries like China, where a lot of trade activities go on between our people and the Chinese market.

“Also, we are looking at improved trade intelligence that will help us, because we are a data-generating agency. We want to see how, with trade intelligence, we can be able to navigate dispute resolution between our shippers and other shippers around the world through diplomatic channels, which you champion.

“We are also looking at the blue economy diplomacy. Today, Nigeria has come into the blue economy. There are countries that have a mature blue economy that we want to partner with.

“For instance, countries like Canada have a very mature blue economy; we want to leverage your capacity to help us promote our blue economy in those countries so that we can facilitate technical cooperation between us and those countries in order to help build our own blue economy.

“We came into the African Continental Free Trade Area very late, because we signed last, so most of the key positions that would have also benefited us were already taken.

“So when we came in, it looked like there was nothing left for us. But we are looking at the issues of maritime logistics connectivity within Africa. We say that as an agency saddled with the responsibility to drive maritime logistics in Nigeria, if we don’t do something as quickly as possible in terms of developing our infrastructure to the point that Nigeria can become a logistic hub to move connectivity and move goods around Africa, under the context of that agreement, we would have lost out completely.

“But, if we are able to take that initiative, at least we have something on the table. And then if we sit and watch other countries take that, it means that we also have lost that opportunity, and this will require a lot of foreign direct investment, and we believe that you are in a better position to also help us to push this, and also the development of infrastructure.

“We are looking at the initiatives that the government is taking, but by and large, it will boil down to private sector participation and the private sector not only internally, but also from other countries.

“We know that you have the capacity to also help us navigate and enhance both access and investor facilitation through diplomatic engagements,” he stated

On his part, while welcoming the ES, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Amb. Yusuf Tuggar expressed delight that the agency was seeking for partnership with the ministry to grow the blue economy sector in Nigeria.

“We need to work closer with each other. You know, an agency might be under one particular ministry, but it doesn’t mean that we should not work together on the issue of overseas trade support. I am very happy to work with you.

“If you also hear of any opportunity or specific project you would like us to work with you on. Please, don’t hesitate,” the Minister urged.

The Ministry and NSC may in the near future sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to further strengthen the partnership with guidelines of operations.