The Ministry of Transportation is prepared to secure accommodation for the proposed Regional Maritime Bank to take off in the country in the next three months.
The Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo, disclosed this recently when the Secretary General, Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa, (MOWCA), Dr. Paul Adalikwu paid him a courtesy visit at the Ministry.
“When I resumed here, I realised immediately that the Regional Maritime Bank is one of the lowest hanging fruits that we can achieve within a very short time. In fact 90 days is too long”. The Minister stated.
Sambo promised to approach the Attorney General of the Federation to explore the possibility of getting one of the forfeited properties allocated to the bank, since all efforts to secure accommodation through the assistance of the Central Bank of Nigeria have not been successful.
The Minister urged the Secretary General, to leverage on MOWCA as a regional outfit to push for Nigeria’s quest to become a member of Category C in International Maritime Organization, IMO.
For his part, Dr. Adalikwu, noted that the idea of a Regional Maritime Development bank (RMDB), was conceived 11 years ago to facilitate single digit interest loans that can provide the leeway for key players in the sector to enable them compete well with their international counterparts.
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