{"id":1360,"date":"2025-11-18T06:17:33","date_gmt":"2025-11-18T06:17:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/?p=1360"},"modified":"2025-11-18T06:17:34","modified_gmt":"2025-11-18T06:17:34","slug":"amjon-2025-stakeholders-chart-strategic-path-for-nigerias-blue-economy-and-maritime-growth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/?p=1360","title":{"rendered":"AMJON 2025: Stakeholders Chart Strategic Path for Nigeria\u2019s Blue Economy and Maritime Growth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

During its 2025 Annual Conference in Lagos, the Association of Maritime Journalists of Nigeria (AMJON) spotlighted the country\u2019s immense potential in the blue economy as a future driver of prosperity. Themed \u201cHarnessing Nigeria\u2019s Blue Economy Potentials: Boosting Export Trade and Multimodal Cargo Transport,\u201d the event brought together maritime experts, policymakers, and industry stakeholders. JournalNG+1<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In her opening remarks, Acting President of AMJON, Vera Osokpo<\/strong>, urged Nigeria to reduce its dependence on oil and fully leverage its coastal and marine assets. She emphasized that sectors like shipping, fisheries, tourism, aquaculture, marine energy, and biotechnology offer \u201cgame-changing\u201d opportunities if properly harnessed. JournalNG<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dr. Eugene Nweke<\/strong>, Head of Research at the Sea Empowerment & Research Centre (SEREC) and Chair of the conference, highlighted a major implementation gap in Nigeria\u2019s blue economy. He pointed out that despite Nigeria having an 853 km coastline, 3,000 km of inland waterways, and a 200-nautical-mile Exclusive Economic Zone, the country contributes less than 1.5% to regional maritime GDP. Von News+1<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

To bridge this gap, Nweke called for a \u201cstructured public-private synergy\u201d (PPS), involving government, investors, academia, and coastal communities. He identified five key pillars for growth: fisheries<\/strong>, shipping & logistics<\/strong>, tourism<\/strong>, marine energy<\/strong>, and data governance<\/strong>. Von News<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

He also made concrete economic projections: closing Nigeria\u2019s 2.1 million-tonne fish deficit could create over 500,000 jobs<\/strong>, while automating port operations could yield savings of up to \u20a63 trillion<\/strong> annually. Von News<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further, Nweke emphasized the importance of linking other sectors to maritime development. He proposed reviving the Ajaokuta Steel Complex<\/strong> to supply steel for shipbuilding and coastal infrastructure, as well as boosting intermodal transport (integrating road, rail, and waterways) using ICT-driven systems like the National Single Window and International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN). Von News<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On regulation, he urged Nigeria\u2019s maritime agencies \u2014 including NIMASA, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), and the Nigerian Shippers\u2019 Council (NSC) \u2014 to synchronize their mandates under a unified maritime policy. He also recommended the establishment of a National Blue Economy Council<\/strong> and a Public-Private Blue Economy Implementation Roundtable<\/strong> to oversee coordinated development. Von News<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The conference underscored how the blue economy can not only diversify the country\u2019s economy but also generate jobs and foster sustainable growth. Osokpo reaffirmed the critical role of journalists in this process, calling on them to highlight both challenges and opportunities in Nigeria\u2019s maritime space. JournalNG<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Source Acknowledgment:<\/strong>
Paraphrased from Searchlight News<\/em> (\u201cAMJON 2025 Conference: Nigeria\u2019s blue economy holds the future \u2026\u201d)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

During its 2025 Annual Conference in Lagos, the Association of Maritime Journalists of Nigeria (AMJON) spotlighted the country\u2019s immense potential in the blue economy as a future driver of prosperity. Themed \u201cHarnessing Nigeria\u2019s Blue Economy Potentials: Boosting Export Trade and Multimodal Cargo Transport,\u201d the event brought together maritime experts, policymakers, and industry stakeholders. JournalNG+1 In…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1165,"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\/1360"}],"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=1360"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1360\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1361,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1360\/revisions\/1361"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1165"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1360"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1360"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1360"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seaempowerment.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fpost_folder&post=1360"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}