The Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise (CPPE) has identified Nigeria's blue economy as a significant investment opportunity. With substantial maritime trade, high logistics costs, unmet demand for fish, and underused inland transport routes, investment in these areas can reduce production costs, strengthen food supply, create jobs, and improve export competitiveness. Nigeria's maritime trade is substantial, with cargo throughput increasing by 24.8% from 103.6 million metric tonnes in 2024 to 129.3 million tonnes in 2025.
Nigeria's coastline spans approximately 853 kilometres, with about 3,000 kilometres of navigable waterways. Despite these figures establishing a substantial market, CPPE notes that Nigeria is not capturing its full value. The organisation emphasises that port efficiency is an industrial competitiveness issue, not just a maritime sector issue. Delays in clearance, congested access routes, and repeated inspections tie down working capital, disrupt factory production, and raise the final price of goods.
CPPE has identified four strong investment opportunities in Nigeria's blue economy. Firstly, ports and their connections to markets, where modern terminals, efficient cargo handling, storage, export facilities, and reliable road and rail access can lower costs across manufacturing, agriculture, and trade. The priority should be the performance of the entire logistics corridor. Expanding port capacity without fixing access and clearance merely shifts the bottleneck.
The second investment opportunity is in inland water transport, where commercially viable barge and ferry routes can move bulk goods and connect riverine communities. This would diversify Nigeria's transport options and relieve pressure on selected roads. Investment must be guided by route surveys, navigation aids, terminals, and enforceable safety standards. The third opportunity is in fisheries and aquaculture, where hatcheries, feed production, landing sites, processing plants, and cold storage can increase the value retained in Nigeria from fish production and distribution.
The fourth investment opportunity is in maritime services, including vessel maintenance, ship repair, marine equipment, training, and logistics services. These activities can build domestic technical capacity and support skilled employment. CPPE notes that the binding constraint to optimising Nigeria's maritime endowment is execution, requiring transparent concessions, predictable tariffs, credible demand forecasts, and clear responsibility among regulators.
To unlock the potential of Nigeria's blue economy, CPPE urges the government to take five practical steps. These include publishing a prioritised pipeline of bankable projects, measuring and reducing the total cost and time of moving cargo, coordinating inspections, developing selected port and inland-waterway corridors as integrated projects, and providing clear operating rules across federal agencies and state and local authorities.
The policy objective is clear: Nigeria should move from earning revenue because goods pass through its waters and ports to creating greater value because those assets make production, trade, and food supply more efficient. Dr Muda Yusuf, CEO of CPPE, emphasises that blue economy investment can deliver sustained returns to investors and measurable gains in citizens' welfare. The creation of the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy gives the sector a stronger institutional focus.
Key points
- Centre for Promotion of Private Enterprise identifies substantial investment opportunities in Nigeria's blue economy
- Nigeria's blue economy can reduce production costs, strengthen food supply, create jobs, and improve export competitiveness
- CPPE urges government to take practical steps to unlock the potential of Nigeria's blue economy
