‘Nigeria’s trade to hit $27.1 trillion in 2019, forex reserve projected at $53.8 billion’

THE Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has projected that the nation’s trade transactions might hit about $27.1 trillion in 2019. The maritime watchdog, in its first edition of Nigeria’s Maritime Industry Forecast 2018-2019, tagged: “Emerging Opportunities and Challenges,” launched in Lagos yesterday, said: “The optimistic forecast anticipates the extent of total trade at N24.6 trillion in 2018 and N27.1 trillion in 2019, whilst forex reserves will attain $45.1 billion at the end of 2018 and $53.8 billion in 2019.

Director-general, NIMASA, Dakuku Peterside, while launching the document in Lagos, said the forecast is addressing critical macroeconomic outlook, including a review of developments in the Nigerian maritime industry in 2017; expected international and local developments in policy and regulatory environmental issues for the maritime sector in 2018 and 2019; and emerging opportunities and challenges, and their implications for the maritime industry.

According to him, the forecast is aligning with the three strategic objectives of Federal Government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), which are restoring growth in economy, investing in people and building a globally-competitive economy.

The NIMASA DG said it had become increasingly clear that the potentials of Nigeria’s blue economy is far from being fully harnessed and that a co-ordinated policy frame-work is required to address the emergent reality, considering the fact that various national economic activities depend on or are derived from ocean resources

Meanwhile, the Minister for Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, in his foreward said: “The Nigerian government as regulator of the maritime sector is committed to partnering with industry stakeholders to ensure economic growth and competitiveness of Nigeria’s maritime domain.”