{"id":1291,"date":"2025-10-30T05:52:01","date_gmt":"2025-10-30T05:52:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/?p=1291"},"modified":"2025-10-30T05:52:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-30T05:52:02","slug":"serec-calls-for-stronger-regional-collaboration-to-boost-trade-through-fiata","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/?p=1291","title":{"rendered":"SEREC Calls for Stronger Regional Collaboration to Boost Trade Through FIATA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The <strong>Sea Empowerment and Research Centre (SEREC)<\/strong> has emphasized the need for stronger regional cooperation among West African nations to harness the full potential of the <strong>International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA)<\/strong> and promote seamless regional trade integration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Speaking in Abuja, <strong>SEREC\u2019s Head of Research, Mr. Eugene Nweke<\/strong>, urged Nigeria to deepen its collaboration with neighbouring countries such as Ghana, C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, and Senegal to build a united regional presence within FIATA. He highlighted that such cooperation would enhance coordination on key initiatives like the <strong>Lagos\u2013Abidjan transport corridor<\/strong> and other regional logistics frameworks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to Mr. Nweke, FIATA membership offers numerous benefits including <strong>global recognition<\/strong>, <strong>policy advocacy opportunities<\/strong>, <strong>professional development<\/strong>, and <strong>expanded international business networks<\/strong> within the freight forwarding and logistics sector.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, he noted that Nigeria has yet to attain top leadership roles within FIATA, such as a <strong>Vice-Presidential seat on the Extended Board<\/strong> or <strong>Chair of a regional committee<\/strong>, which limits the country\u2019s voice in global decision-making circles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To strengthen Nigeria\u2019s representation, SEREC recommended a <strong>clearer definition of roles<\/strong> between the <strong>Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN)<\/strong>\u2014the statutory regulatory agency\u2014and the country\u2019s various freight forwarding associations. This, the Centre said, would help project a unified and credible national voice internationally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SEREC further advised that Nigeria should:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul>\n<li>Ensure full compliance with FIATA obligations, including <strong>timely dues payment<\/strong> and <strong>submission of reports<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Increase participation in <strong>FIATA committees, working groups, and conferences<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Encourage more Nigerian companies to register as <strong>individual FIATA members<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Adopt FIATA\u2019s <strong>digital and ethical standards<\/strong>, such as <strong>FIATA Docs<\/strong>, <strong>e-Freight tools<\/strong>, and <strong>global legal templates<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Additionally, the Centre called on the government and industry stakeholders to work towards <strong>hosting FIATA regional meetings, workshops, and conferences in Nigeria<\/strong> as a way of raising the country\u2019s profile and positioning it as a <strong>leading logistics and trade hub in West Africa<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>SEREC reaffirmed its commitment to driving policy research, collaboration, and advocacy aimed at enhancing <strong>maritime safety, logistics efficiency, and regional economic integration<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Date: October 29, 2025<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Sea Empowerment and Research Centre (SEREC) has emphasized the need for stronger regional cooperation among West African nations to harness the full potential of the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Associations (FIATA) and promote seamless regional trade integration. Speaking in Abuja, SEREC\u2019s Head of Research, Mr. Eugene Nweke, urged Nigeria to deepen its collaboration&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1292,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1291"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1293,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1291\/revisions\/1293"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1291"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_folder&post=1291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}