Business
NIMASA to Launch Mandatory Registration Portal to Curb Foreign Takeover of Nigerian Shipping Agents Business
NIMASA to Launch Mandatory Registration Portal to Curb Foreign Takeover of Nigerian Shipping Agents Business
By Okeoghene Onoriobe, Waterways News Correspondent, Lagos
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has announced plans to establish a dedicated Shipping Business and Registration Unit at the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, as part of measures to end the growing foreign encroachment into shipping agency operations — a sector long reserved for Nigerian indigenes.
NIMASA Director-General, Dr. Dayo Mobereola, disclosed this during a stakeholders’ engagement meeting organised by the Ministry in Lagos on Thursday.
Dr. Mobereola said the agency had observed with grave concern the increasing penetration of foreigners into aspects of ports and shipping business that are exclusively meant for Nigerian operators, including shipping agency and freight forwarding services — sectors where indigenous practitioners have long raised alarm.
“We need to establish a mandatory registration and licensing portal for Nigerian shipping agents. They would be the only ones with the rights to operate in the Nigerian shipping industry,” the NIMASA boss declared.
He added that the agency had also uncovered a troubling pattern where foreign nationals were registering companies through Nigerian fronts to circumvent existing rules.
“We noticed that these foreigners are registering companies with the assistance of Nigerians. The purpose here is to eliminate such acts and help us develop the Nigerian shipping sector — most importantly the shipping agents sector — to make it more economically friendly and create jobs for Nigerians,” he said.
Dr. Mobereola confirmed that the new department would be established soon, pending approval from the Honourable Minister of Marine and Blue Economy.
The proposed unit is expected to bring structure and legal clarity to a space that industry stakeholders say has been undermined for years by the activities of foreign interests — often operating covertly through proxy arrangements with local collaborators.
Waterways News gathered that the move has been broadly welcomed by indigenous shipping practitioners who have consistently called on regulatory authorities to enforce indigenisation policies in the maritime sector.
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