Revenues generated by agencies under the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy rose to N1.83 trillion in 2025, a 160 per cent jump from N700.79 billion in 2023, as the Ministry marked three years since its creation by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Presenting a three-year scorecard, Minister Dr. Adegboyega Oyetola said the sector had undergone sweeping changes since August 2023, with gains recorded in revenue generation, port infrastructure, maritime security, regulation, indigenous shipping, human capital development, fisheries and inland waterway safety.
He credited the revenue growth to regulatory reforms, stronger revenue assurance, digitisation and the closing of financial leakages, describing the Ministry’s mandate as turning the country’s marine resources into sustainable value for Nigerians.
A central milestone, he said, was the May 2025 approval of Nigeria’s first National Policy on Marine and Blue Economy, replacing a fragmented approach to managing shipping, fisheries, offshore energy and marine biotechnology with a single framework meant to give investors clearer rules and more predictability.
On infrastructure, Oyetola pointed to an ongoing upgrade of major seaports — Apapa, Tin Can Island, Onne, Rivers, Calabar and Warri — through improved channels, modern cargo-handling systems and greater digitisation. The World Bank and S&P Global Market Intelligence recently ranked Tin Can Island Port 10th and Lagos Port Complex, Apapa, 12th among the world’s most improved container ports between 2020 and 2025.
He said congestion around Apapa had eased through an electronic truck call-up system, dedicated holding bays, expanded inland barging and new tugboats, pilot cutters and dredging equipment, while deep-seaport projects are underway in Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Bayelsa, Ondo, Lagos and Rivers states, alongside inland dry ports such as the Funtua facility in Katsina State.
The Minister, according to a statement by his Special Adviser, Dr Bolaji Akinola, also cited regulatory changes, including the new Nigeria Ports Economic Regulatory Authority framework, more than N86 billion saved for port users from unjustified demurrage charges, and nearly 300 commercial disputes resolved through alternative dispute resolution.
On security, Oyetola said Nigeria has recorded zero piracy in its territorial waters for four straight years, aided by Deep Blue Project assets, helping the country regain its seat on the International Maritime Organization’s Category C Council in November 2025 after 14 years and secure the lifting of a 12-year US Coast Guard entry restriction on vessels from Nigerian ports.
He said plans to revive a national shipping carrier through a public-private partnership are advanced, and disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund has begun to help Nigerian shipowners acquire vessels.
Seafarer training programmes, he added, have helped push average seafarer earnings up by more than 80 per cent, alongside a new N200,000 monthly minimum wage for maritime and shipping workers.
Beyond ports and shipping, the Ministry said it supported the Naira-for-Crude policy through streamlined marine logistics, distributed lifejackets and pursued plans to replace wooden boats with fibreglass vessels on inland waterways, and saw fish production reach 1.4 million metric tonnes in 2025. Nigeria also achieved full compliance with Turtle Excluder Device requirements among inspected shrimp trawlers.
Institutionally, the Ministry said it digitised its operations through an Enterprise Content Management System and helped resolve a 16-year impasse enabling the Regional Maritime Development Bank to become operational in Nigeria.
Oyetola described the past three years as a foundation for a larger economic opportunity, saying the blue economy is “becoming a major engine of national prosperity, regional competitiveness and sustainable growth.”
