Nigeria’s undeveloped coastline: Another goldmine lying waste
With the persistence fall in oil price in the global market, there is urgent need for the diversification of the Nigerian economy from its crude oil mainstay.
While tourism or rather the ‘blue economy’ presents itself as the lowest hanging fruit for economy diversification, the country has continued to neglect the huge potential of the sector, especially the over 853 kilometers of coastline that is lying waste across the country.
Sadly, the Gambia has built its economy on tourism, using its well-developed 48 kilometers coastline to attract over 300,000 tourists annually, especially Europeans, amid huge foreign exchange and infrastructure development.
It is disappointing when European holidaymakers visit Gambia, Ghana and even Senegal for holiday instead of Nigeria, a supposedly giant of Africa.
The reality is that smaller West African countries, especially those that do not have crude oil, are latching unto tourism because of its huge revenue earning potential, and they have also learnt to upgrade their tourism facilities in order to woo foreigners in good numbers.
For instance, the sand, sun and beaches, which Gambia sells as major tourism offerings to European visitors are also abundant in Nigeria, but the difference is the packaging, presentation, marketing, and maintenance.
Of course, Kenya, the East Africa tourism powerhouse, is making fortune from Mombasa, its famous coastal city dotted with wonderful shorelines.
Last year, Kenyan travel and tourism grew by 5.6 percent to contribute Sh790 billion and 1.1 million jobs to the Ke
nyan economy, a development that beat the average global growth of 3.9 percent and the Sub-saharan Africa average of 3.3 percent.
Nigeria can learn from South Africa, which engaged private investors to develop the 6-kilometer Golden Mile; the popular stretch of beachfront along the India Ocean in the city of Durban, that contributes over R12 million (about N300 million) from foreign tourists and R3 billion (about N80 billion) annually from domestic tourism, as well as, Cape Town’s Victoria & Alfred Waterfront that attracts more than 23 million visitors a year and generates over R4 billion annually.
Then, Dubai’s Atlantis and other world class attractions built on the shoreline, are earning millions of Dirham monthly to the United Arab Emirates city.
Huge earnings from tourism is not rocket science, it is attainable. While it may be difficult developing the over 853 kilometers of coastline, Nigeria can start with Lagos coastline.
At present, Lagos State harbors about 180 kilometers coastline, which is lying fallow.
Sadly, the Lagos State Internal Revenue Service plans to rake in N73.86 billion monthly in internally generated revenue (IGR) in 2020, to enable the state finance its numerous developmental projects.
However, tourism experts have said that the state could earn more if conscious efforts are made at developing the 180 kilometer coastline that is currently lying fallow.
The experts noted that the neglected coastline, which could earn over N10 billion annually, was due to lack of interest, incompetence of indigenous investors and not necessarily funding.
Citing instance with Mombasa fortune shoreline and Gambia’s well-developed 48 kilometer coastline that has boosted tourism in becoming the country’s second highest earner of foreign revenue, tourism experts noted that if developed, the Lagos coastline with its mild features that enable beach outing would contribute over N10 billion annually to Lagos State Government through taxes from hotels, restaurants, resorts and related business along the coastline.
According to Wanle Akinboboye, president, La Campagne Tropicana Resort, Ibeju-lekki, Lagos, the revenue accruing to government from developing the coastline would even grow more with the Lekki Free Trade Zone by the corridor of the coastline that is expected to woo global investors.
All government need do, according to him, is to woo the right investors to take advantage of the coastline for tourism infrastructure development in areas such as resorts, hotels, theme parks among others.
Greg Onwukwufo, a destination manager and hotelier, noted that the fallow coastline can become goldmine if the environment is favourable enough for investors like in other climes, amid safety and security of their investments.
“The stress and cost of land acquisition, high tariff on imported tourism equipment/products, poor infrastructure, especially electricity and roads, insecurity among others, need to be tackled in order to truly woo investments that would develop the coastline”, he insisted.
Besides the tourism purpose, the coastline doubles as the Coconut belt of Lagos State but still do not give its maximum coconut yield and harvest as coconut growers take less advantage of it.
Failing to maximise its comparative advantage of the 180 km coastline for the development of coconut industries, Gbolahan Lawal, former, Lagos State Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, once noted that the state loses N6.47 billion yearly from poor returns from coconut.
Due to its all-round revenue potential, Akinboboye called on Lagos State Government to see the development of the coastline as core to its megacity project and a boost to its internally generated revenue drive.
Apart from Lagos, Mike Amachree, proprietor of Brooklyn Tourist Centre and Port Harcourt Tourist Beach Resort, noted that Niger Delta offers several kilometers of shoreline that are untapped.
Amachree, who is regarded as the father of Nigerian tourism, insisted that there is no excuse for the neglect of the goldmine as peace has been restored in Niger Delta and investment in coastline in the region is as good as investing in crude oil well because of the revenue earning potential of tourism, especially on the coastline.
Udeme Akanimoh, a tourism expert, also pointed out the potential along the Akwa Ibom coastal corridor. From Oron, Abak, and to Ibeno, he noted that beaches surround the state, but are not developed to woo more locals and even the world.
He suggested that government should create foreign direct investment platform to woo the right investors and local partnership that would collaborate to lift the tourism goldmine that has been laying fallow for decades as witnessed in most destinations with huge waterfronts.
“Government can get serious with the development by identifying and partnering credible investors, providing incentives such as infrastructure, low tariff on tourism equipment, adequate security and formulating tourism-friendly policies that would ensure safety of investments on the coastline”, Akanimoh said.
Besides the revenue accruing to government from developing the coastline, tourism experts disclosed that developing world class tourism infrastructure along the coastlines across the country is imperative going by the less than 10 percent foreign patronage of Nigeria’s domestic tourism.
“A well-developed coastline will boost domestic offerings, create many job opportunities, encourage skill development, woo foreign patronage and most importantly, lift tourism industry to a sustainable revenue earner”, they concluded.