The stakeholders in the maritime and logistics sector have called for deliberate policy reforms to strengthen indigenous shipping capacity, reduce port inefficiencies, and formalise cross-border maritime transactions.
The National President of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport Nigeria (CILT), Cross River State chapter, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, said at the 2026 conference in Calabar with the theme, “Promoting Coastal Maritime Trade with Littoral Countries Along the Gulf of Guinea”, that continued reliance on informal trade was distorting Nigeria’s economic records and limiting growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He called for urgent investment in multimodal transport systems, improved port infrastructure, enhanced maritime security, and harmonised trade documentation across agencies, arguing that the Gulf of Guinea corridor holds significant untapped economic potential that remains largely unaccounted for due to informal trading practices.
According to him, Nigeria’s strategic coastal location, 800-kilometre shoreline, major ports, and inland waterways placed it at the centre of maritime trade within West and Central Africa.
He added that Nigeria is not fully benefiting from this advantage due to weak policy coordination and the dominance of informal trade across neighbouring countries such as Cameroon, Ghana, Benin and Togo.
“Nigeria’s coastal trade is failing to reflect in GDP because most of the transactions are informal. The conversion of informal trade to formal trade is what will give us prosperity. Nigeria is the greatest loser in this arrangement,” he said.
Oyeyemi also called for stronger collaboration between the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy, Customs Service and other regulatory agencies to improve documentation processes and ensure that trade within the Gulf of Guinea is properly structured and accounted for.
He highlighted persistent challenges, including weak indigenous shipping capacity, high port charges, poor rail-port integration, and the continued movement of heavy cargo by road, warning that these issues were damaging infrastructure and reducing efficiency across the logistics chain.
Earlier in her welcome address, the Chairman of CILT Calabar Branch, Aniefiok Iton, described the conference as a strategic platform designed to reposition maritime trade as a key driver of regional economic transformation.
She said the Gulf of Guinea represented a major trade corridor linking several coastal nations but noted that inefficiencies, weak coordination and underutilised infrastructure had limited its full potential.
Iton added that Cross River State was uniquely positioned to serve as a maritime gateway due to its coastal geography, inland waterways and access to multimodal transport systems, urging stakeholders to move from policy discussions to implementation.
She called for stronger regional partnerships, capacity building and investment in logistics infrastructure, stressing that sustainable maritime growth would depend on collective action among littoral states.
GIK/APA