In a bid to promote port efficiency and ease of doing business, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) will soon commence the implementation of full automation and cargo tracking across the various ports in the country, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola, has disclosed.
Oyetola made the disclosure when he received renowned entrepreneur and sustainability expert, Prof.. Gunter Pauli, who is on a three-day visit to Nigeria.
Pauli’s visit was facilitated by his partners in Nigeria — Premium Blue Economy Innovation and Investment (PBEI& I).
The minister said the federal government is interested in partnering with relevant stakeholders under the Public-Private- Partnership (PPP) arrangement to maximize and explore the resources of the ocean sector for rapid economic development, improve the livelihood of its people, create jobs as well and preserve the health of the ecosystem.
Oyetola also said the Federal Government is keen on the diversification of the Nigerian economy away from the oil industry, hence the creation of the new Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy.
He said: “Again, we are going to be talking about automation of ports to make them more efficient. I would like to tell you that in another two years, it will all change. We are bringing in automation and cargo tracking as we are working on that for implementation.
“Seventy percent of the resources that are available actually comes from the ocean, and we have it in abundance here.
“I believe in the Public Private Partnership arrangement. The government will create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive and our concept in dealing with these, is purely in PPP, and I see quite a lot of opportunities there.”
Speaking further, Oyetola noted that the Nigerian waterways have enjoyed adequate security with no single incidence of piracy for the past two years, as he called on investors to take advantage of the opportunities and partner with the newly created Ministry to drive development.
“We have sufficient control of our ocean in terms of security and there has been nothing like piracy in our ocean. So, the fear of investors about the safety of their investments is out of it now.”
Earlier, Prof. Pauli, said his team was in Nigeria to partner with the Ministry on commercial and technological innovations and job creation around the sector.
He expressed the conviction that his partnership with the Ministry would attract foreign and local investments that would create a lot of opportunities for the Nigerian youths.
Present at the event was the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation/Marine and Blue Economy, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, Directors and heads of parastatals in the ministry and other senior management staff.
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