Speaking at the 16th Marine and Technical Summit of the Association of Marine Engineers and Surveyors in Lagos, the Managing Director of Genesis Shipping, Capt Emmanuel Iheanacho, said Nigeria’s losses far exceed the initially reported figure of $9.2bn when petroleum product freight is factored into the calculation.

He said, “When you look at the carriage of our crude oil programme, Nigeria is losing more than $9.2bn. We are losing over $86bn annually to foreign vessels’ dominance of our freight business,” Iheanacho said.

The Chairman of Starzs Investments Company Limited, Greg Ogbeifun, while also expressing concerns, stated that Nigeria’s freight trade is dominated by foreign vessels due to a lack of indigenous capacity and support from the government.

Presenting a paper titled, ‘What is militating against the resurgence of Nigerian global trading?’, Ogeifun noted that Nigeria’s geographical location along the Atlantic Coastline grants the country a lot of access to shipping operations, making Nigeria a crucial hub for marine activities.

According to him, the country has a growing demand for shipping services, but the government has not made it possible for indigenous operators to own ships.

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