Maritime Agencies
Carribean Nations Applaud Dangote Refinery, Charge African Nations To Stop Exporting Raw Materials.
By Izuchukwu Ozoemena
Africa and developing countries have been charged to reverse the cycle of exporting raw materials and importing finished products from developed countries by embracing and investing in industries such as the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals domiciled in the continent. This and similar establishments that process raw materials into finished products must be embraced and encouraged to blossom so as to save Africa from being a dumping ground and perpetuating a long-standing economic dependence on the developed nations.
Dickson Mitchell, the Prime Minister of Grenada and chairman, Caribbean Community (CARICOM or CC) – a political and economic union of 15 member states and five associated members throughout the Americas, The Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean, disclosed this, Thursday, at the Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals complex in Ibeju Lekki, Lagos.
Mitchell who was championing the efforts of Carribean countries desirous of partnering with Dangote Group in cement and fertilizer production, referred to Dangote Petroleum Refinery and Petrochemicals as a significant investment in industrialisation and manufacturing needed by developing countries for their technological and industrial growth.
It is through this type of investment, he noted, that Africa and the developing countries can reposition themselves industrially, process natural resources available in the continent, market finished products locally and beyond to the advantage of their individual economies while creating employment and broadening the continent’s foreign exchange earnings.
Mitchell said the refinery is a tribute to the President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote and his vision not just for Nigeria but Africa as a whole.
“This investment is a tribute to Dangote and his remarkable vision. It is the first of its kind in Nigeria and Africa, symbolising what the developing world needs: significant investment in industrialisation and manufacturing. This is an incredible achievement and a testament to Mr. Dangote’s vision, not just for his company, but for Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
Dangote, he stated, exemplifies what an African leader should be.
“We need not just political leaders, but business leaders who are willing to invest in Africa, particularly in manufacturing and industrialisation. We must ensure that we don’t continue to export our raw materials to the developed world where they can be turned into sophisticated products and sent back to us. We need to reverse that cycle; it is the only way to grow the wealth of Africa and the developing world.”
” Additionally, we need to support this with training and invest in job opportunities,” he said.
Applauding the sophistication and automation at the refinery, the Prime Minister expressed optimism for Nigeria’s future, especially given the number of young Nigerians trained and working at both the refinery and fertiliser plants. The $20 billion refinery, the largest private investment in Africa, stands out for its team of young professionals, predominantly aged between 26 and 28, most of whom hold advanced degrees and were educated in Nigeria”.
“It has been a wonderful experience to witness the shared skills, depth of sophistication, and automation here. Seeing so many bright young Nigerians, particularly in the laboratories, is truly inspiring. I believe this bodes well for the future development of Nigeria,” he added.
Mitchell stated that the Caribbean Community would be exploring partnership opportunities with the Dangote Group to enhance its economy.
“One of the reasons I am here is to pursue synergies and partnerships between the diaspora and Africa, particularly in areas such as the refinery, cement, and fertiliser. We believe there are fantastic opportunities to develop partnerships between the Caribbean and Africa,” he added.
On his part, Dangote described the visit as symbolic, noting that many Caribbean countries are beginning to discover crude oil and are exploring opportunities to build their own refineries. This would help them address the challenge of exporting crude while importing refined petroleum products at high costs.
“The visit shows that many countries are proud of what we have been able to achieve because a lot of countries have been unable to deliver their refineries. It shows their pride in seeing a Black person like them at the Caribbean, although I am from Nigeria, succeed. For them, this is a dream, especially as many Caribbean countries are beginning to discover oil but still depend largely on exporting crude while importing petroleum products, which is costlier than in America. Their dream is to set up a refinery—perhaps not of this size—but one that would cater to their people,” he said.
Africa’s wealthiest man emphasized that the company is looking for partnerships in the Caribbean not only in petroleum products but also in cement and fertilizer production. He mentioned ongoing discussions about importing crude from these countries while supplying them with refined products.
“There are numerous partnerships in place. He is not only the Prime Minister of Grenada but also the Chairman of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM). We are exploring collaboration in areas such as cement and petroleum, including the possibility of buying crude from them while selling some of our petroleum products to them. We already export to the U.S., Mexico, and other regions, so there is significant collaboration we are looking to develop between us and them.”
The 650,000 barrels per day (bpd) Dangote Oil Refinery—the largest single-train refinery in the world—is designed to process a wide variety of crude oils, including those from Africa, the Middle East, and US Light Tight Oil. It conforms to Euro V specifications and is built to meet stringent standards set by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), European emission norms, the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), and the African Refiners and Distributors Association (ARDA).
The refinery has the capacity to satisfy 100% of Nigeria’s demand for petrol, diesel, kerosene, and aviation jet fuel, with additional surplus available for export.
By Izuchukwu Ozoemena
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has pledged to continue to pursue strategic automation initiatives in order to deepen and consolidate her role in trade facilitation, revenue generation and national development.
The National Public Relations Officer (NPRO), Assistant Comptroller Abdullahi Maiwada stated this, Monday, while
announcing, on behalf of the Customs Comptroller-General,
Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, the
successful commencement of the pilot phase for processing Form M through the B’Odogwu (Unified Customs Management System) in all Commands of the Service.
“This initiative represents another bold step in the Service’s technology-driven reforms to modernise trade procedures and enhance operational efficiency”, the NPRO stated.
He explained that following the Service’s approval to integrate the Form M process into the B’Odogwu Trade Portal, preparatory activities commenced across three designated Customs Commands: Port and Terminal Multiservices Limited (PTML), Tin Can Island Port, and Apapa Area Command.
“These sites were selected to drive the pilot phase in a controlled and strategic environment, allowing for close monitoring, stakeholder engagement, and performance assessment.”
“During this period, a total of five hundred and forty-four (544) Form M entries were processed. Of these, 283 were successfully registered, 10 were validated, and 26 were stored for further action. Additionally, 41 entries were submitted, 120 were returned for corrections, 11 were queried, 14 had their PAARs locked, and 39 were recommended for approval.”
These figures, he said, reflect the robust testing and interactive learning across all participating commands.
Maiwada said a total of 37 Pre-Arrival Assessment Reports (PAARs) were generated from the processed Forms M out of which 7 were registered, 12 had their Single Goods Declarations (SGDs) processed, 2 were fully approved, 8 were recommended for further review. 4 were submitted for processing, and 4 were queried.
“This outcome confirms the operational capacity of the B’Odogwu system to support end-to-end trade documentation during live implementation”, the release said.
The successful implementation of the Form M pilot on the B’Odogwu platform signals the beginning of a nationwide transition that will streamline customs documentation, enhance transparency, and promote faster clearance timelines.
Consequently, to enhance trade facilitation and supply chain security in the ongoing pilot phase, NCS encourages all carriers (shipping lines and airlines) to commence transmission of manifests to the B’dogwu platform while ensuring that all key stakeholders, particularly the financial institutions and traders, are adequately engaged and prepared for full deployment.
Maritime Agencies
MARITIME SECURITY: 1723 Vessels Conducted ‘Dark Activities’ On Nigerian Waters, January To April, 2025, NIMASA’s C4i Reveals.
By Izuchukwu Ozoemena
Between January 2024 and January 2025, 1,723 vessels conducted ‘dark activities’, including turning off their Automatic Identification System (AIS) while on Nigerian waters.
Dr Dayo Mobereola
The Command, Control, Communications, Computers and Intelligence (C4i) centre of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency ( NIMASA) says this alarming number of vessels probably decided to tamper with their AIS system to enable them carry out illicit activities within Nigeria’s Exclusive Economic Zone ( EEZ).
The C4i centre, a critical component of the Deep Blue project domiciled within NIMASA operates with contributions from various security agencies including the Nigerian Navy, Nigerian Air Force, Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Police and the Department of State Services.
It monitors vessels entering Nigerian waters using an intelligence system designed to detect any suspicious activity.
The supervisor of the C4i operation centre, Abdulrasak Lawal disclosed these findings recently during an oversight visit by the House Committee on Maritime Safety, Education and Administration to the Nigerian Maritime Resource Development Centre (NMRDC) in Lagos.
He explained that the system tracks the history of vessels, including their voyages and flags to determine any questionable activities for further investigation. The questionable activities include different types of sharp practices and the deliberate switching off of the AIS, among others.
Lawal said some of the vessels uncovered are suspected to have been engaged in illegal fishing, illegal bunkering, oil theft and dumping of harmful waste in the nation’s waters.
“These vessels, when they sail into our waters, turn off their transmission, and once they do that, you’re not able to track them. Once you are unable to track vessels operating on your waters, there are so many reasons associated with it. We have so many vessels coming for illegal bunkering, illegal fishing, dumping of harmful waste- they are part of the 1723 vessels conducting dark activities.
He added, “Immediately a vessel goes dark, we dispatch one of our aerial assets above that particular vessel to ascertain it’s activities at that moment. Because once a vessel goes dark, it is a crime on its own, and we even have the power to detain any vessel that is conducting dark activities.”
Lawal also highlighted the significant volume of maritime traffic within Nigeria’s waters, which he said accounts for 47 percent of vessel traffic in the Gulf of Guinea with 33,530 port calls recorded between January and April 2025.
This, he said, is against figures from countries within the Gulf of The Guinea (GoG) like Ghana with 4,969 port calls, Gabon- 2,753, Equatorial Guinea- 2,196, Benin- 996, Liberia- 711, and Gambia with 328 port calls within the review period.
The high volume of traffic, Lawal noted, increases the potential for illegal activities and attack on vessels adding that as a member of the GoG, Nigeria is accountable to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) for ensuring security of vessels in its maritime domain.
Lawal disclosed further that a total of 4,016 different vessels entered Nigeria’s EEZ between January and April 2025,
with 166 of them entering for the first time.
Despite the challenges posed by these dark activities, Lawal said the C4i centre of the deep blue project has been instrumental not only in identifying suspicious vessels but also in maintaining a record of zero piracy incidents in Nigeria waters for over one year.
Maritime Agencies
Nigeria – China Currency Swap Deal: Farinto, Olanrewaju Urge Maritime Stakeholders To Take Advantage of Opportunities.
By Izuchukwu Ozoemena
Chairman, Customs Consultative Council (CCC), Aare Hakeem Olanrewaju is optimistic that the currency swap agreement between Nigeria and China has the potential to address the challenges of inflation and other issues working against trade facilitation in the country.
Determined to relieve external funding pressures and ensure trade facilitation between Nigeria and China, both countries engaged in a series of negotiations for a bilateral currency swap framework.
Olanrewaju who chaired the recent breakfast meeting held in Lagos by the Maritime Reporters Association of Nigeria ( MARAN) recalled
a research of over ten years ago showing that prices of goods keep going up in Nigeria compared to other countries of the world.
” I believe the decision of MARAN to organise this breakfast meeting and bring stakeholders together will give us an insight into the benefits and challenges of the currency swap between Nigeria and China”, he said.
Statistics show that China is a strategic tool for trade efficiency and external sector diversification . It has the potentials to offer Nigeria’s maritime industry new trade opportunities with China, the country’s trading partner .
In his intervention, former Acting President, Association of Nigeria Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Dr. Kayode Collins Farinto commended the Tinubu administration for courageous decisions being taken to move the country’s economy forward.
However , he wants Government to tackle the challenge of infrastructure which has been an impediment to trade facilitation so as to efficiently implement the currency swap deal.
Farinto also called for the construction of a functional rail system to make the Lekki Deep Sea port viable and disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund ( CVFF).
He urged the Federal Government to provide the financial support to MARAN to enable the pioneer maritime media association to lead in efforts to carry out needed sensitization on the implementation of the currency swap deal between the two countries.
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Maritime Agencies3 weeks agoMARAN Breakfast Meeting: Nigeria – China Currency Swap Deal Will Favour Trade, says CBN.
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Maritime Agencies2 weeks agoOGUN AREA 1 CUSTOMS: Comptroller Shuaibu Bows Out, Hands Over To Comptroller Otunla.
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Maritime Agencies2 weeks agoNPA Receives Accolades As ‘Kota Carum’ Docks At Onne Multipurpose Terminal, Onne Port .
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Maritime Agencies3 weeks agoNIMASA’s Edward Osagie Shines at National Spokespersons’ Award
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Maritime Agencies2 weeks agoMAN, Oron, Pledges Partnership With CILT To Foster Professionalism In Marine and Blue Economy.
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Maritime Agencies1 week agoNigeria – China Currency Swap Deal: Farinto, Olanrewaju Urge Maritime Stakeholders To Take Advantage of Opportunities.
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Maritime Agencies1 week agoMARITIME SECURITY: 1723 Vessels Conducted ‘Dark Activities’ On Nigerian Waters, January To April, 2025, NIMASA’s C4i Reveals.
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Maritime Agencies3 weeks agoTINCAN CUSTOMS: Comptroller Onyeka Harps on Transparency, Appreciates Role of ICPC, ACTU.