NBCC boss seeks support for maritime industry

THE president of the Nigerian Belgian Chamber of Commerce (NBCC), Tunde Okoya has called for the diversification of the nation’s economy due to the drop in oil price.

Speaking during a break fast meeting, Okoya said this is a wonderful opportunity to diversify the National economy into the Agriculture, Maritime and Financial Services sector for the West African region and Africa at large. Okoya said: “There is no doubt the months ahead will be quite challenging for Nigeria as a result of falling prices of crude oil which still contributes almost 80 per cent of our foreign exchange earnings.

“It is projected that the economy will only grow by only 5%-5.5 per cent as against the 7 per cent growth we have witnessed for a couple of years.

And also inflation will rise beyond the levels we have also seen in recent years to perhaps 8-9 per cent or more. He stated further that, these economic indices will certainly task our capabilities and resolve as a nation, adding that the positive side to all these numbers is that “it presents a wonderful opportunity to diversify the National economy into agriculture, maritime and financial services for the West African region and Africa at large.

According to him, Nigeria is strategically located and has the 10th largest proven oil reserves of hydrocarbon deposit in the world, which he explained presents an opportunity to build the necessary infrastructure to exploit these opportunities throughout the entire West African region.

He added that as new countries on these rich coastal lines begin to discover new oil wells, the proven reserves will certainly increase beyond the current levels, adding that it is an undisputed fact that there certainly will be increased requirements for logistics base, fabrication yards, ship repairs among others in Nigeria’s deep offshore.

He said: “If we don’t take the initiative other countries will do it for us. “From those providing supply vessels for the support of offshore oil and gas exploration, right up to those involved in building the major infrastructures like deep sea ports that are so pivotal to achieving this objective.”

He explained that it is the wish of NBCC partners in Belgium to see this become a reality, “especially our friends at the Port of Antwerp, which is strategically positioned to provide this service as partners, to wean us away from export of crude oil alone”.

In his keynote address, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board, an engineer, Ernest Nwapa, spoke on local supply chains aimed at creating capacity to form a foundation in Nigeria. Also, the General Manager, Dredging International, a Belgian company, Bert Wille, gave a comprehensive presentation on deep sea ports in Nigeria with emphasis on their commitment to local content.