• Blue and Marine Economy
• Ocean

ESTABLISHMENT OF A MARINE AND BLUE ECONOMY MINISTRY AND ITS IMPACT ON THE GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE NIGERIA ECONOMY.

• 

  Iyamu Kenneth / 1 week
• 0
• 5 min read

Before I start the discussion, let us understand what a marine and blue economy represents and why it is significant in the growth and development of global economies. There are 3 types of economies: blue, brown and green economies, the difference is their impact on the environment but they all have implications for the sustainable development goals. The blue and green economies are considered to be more promising for achieving these goals. Since the concentration of this write up will be on marine and blue economy, let’s delve into its principles, characteristics and opportunities.The marine and blue economy is the sustainable use of ocean resources that is worth between $3 and $6 trillion dollars. Globally, the growth of ocean based economy activities gathered pace over the last 50 years and now estimated more than $1.5 trillion dollars annually thereby acting as a significant generator of wealth with the value of key ocean assets estimated at $24 trillion dollars and annual value of goods and services at $2.5 trillion dollars. This represents about 5% of global GDP and promote the 7th largest economic contributor. With these robust background, we can understand the upbeat among Nigerians when the country created a ministry to leverage these enormous opportunities in marine and blue economy. When this Ministry of marine and blue economy was established, Nigerians were ecstatic at the potentials of a third pool of prosperity after oil and gas and agriculture. The sad reality is that 2 years down the line, the ministry is yet to bring the desired impact.Let’s go back to understanding marine and blue economy. Blue economy represents the economic sector that conserve fresh water environment while using them in sustainable way to develop economic growth and produce resources such as energy and food, reduce marine pollution protect biodiversity and ensure that a country’s blue economy is sustainable. While marine economy is the collection of economic activities related to the ocean including the use of its resources and development of its infrastructure. Globally, Marine and Blue economy Ministry promotes: 1). Fisheries. The harvesting of fish and other seafood. 2). Aquaculture. The cultivation of seafood in a controlled environment. 3). Marine Transportation. The movement of goods and people by sea. 4). Renewable energy. The use of wind, tides and other sources of energy from the sea. 5). Marine Transportation. The use of sea for the movement of goods and equipment. 6). Mineral Extraction. The extraction of minerals from the ocean floor such as oil and gas and seabed noodles. 7). Tourism. The use of coastal areas for recreational purposes. 8). Desalination. The extraction of freshwater from sea water. I have highlighted the enormous requirements and benefits of a marine and blue economy to global economies. Additionally, the Ministry of marine and blue economy was expected to promote the following in line with AU blue economy; A). Promote economic growth. B). Create jobs. C). Improve livelihoods. D). Preserve health of the ocean resources and ecosystems. E). Promote social inclusion. F). Promote environmental sustainability. We can all relate with why the Ministry of marine and blue economy was expected to be a turnaround in the following: Cabotage. The involvement of more indigenous shippers in the movement of goods and services within the country. Reduction of Concessions to foreign shipowners due to lack of capacity of the indigenous shippers. Revitalising the moribund Nigeria National Shipping Industry. Improved Ship docking and bunker in Nigeria. Protect poachers from stealing the country’s fish by foreigners. The Nigeria marine and blue economy Ministry was required to develop marine transportation systems as a most cost effective and environmentally friendly mode of transportation particularly for Nigeria with limited road infrastructure. Also, the ministry was to build a high volume inland waterways traffic to explore the critical marine transportation system play in Africa by acquiring state of the art crafts, setting the standard with craft that are in tune with international standards. The current state of NIWA is a direct contrast to this. The question now is has the ministry of marine and blue economy lived up to expectations of contributing up to 20% to countries gdp growth as obtained in other countries? Has there been significant efforts by the ministry to tap into the projected $300 billion dollars contributions to African countries GDP since 2018. For instance in Belgium, the blue economy grew from 4.5% of gdp in 2018 to 5.2 % in 2021. Exploration of Resources in The Gulf of Guinea should be the key fucus to the establishment of the marine and blue economy. This is because an entity was necessary to rapidly promote the benefits from exploring our maritime borders to the Gulf of Guinea, to explore and exploit more resources. The ministry need to emplace new efforts to orchestrate the development of the country’s Exclusive Economic Zone EEZ towards attracting investment in maritime industry including the development of marine infrastructure of ports, shipping facilities and other support services.Consequently, the Ministry need to embark on the aggressive development of shippers and regulatory matters relating to merchants shippers and seafarers using improved administration of port services that was once adjudged the second best in administration after independence. If the the ministry must make the desired impact, there must be deliberate efforts to Improve the management of physical and chemical characteristics of Nigerian territorial waters by controlling pollution of coastal waters through research. ( for more conversation follow me on Twitter X @iyamuclimatech1 and Instagram iyamuclimatechange). You can forward your contributions to iyamukenneth65@gmail.com and 07057447442. WhatsApp ONLY