Vincent Toritseju
Lagos — IN a bid to increase the African Continental fleet and encourage intra-African the, the Federal Government of Nigeria has concluded plans to commence operation of the Regional Maritime Development Bank in the next three months (90 days).
Recall that the Headquarters and Headship of the Bank has also been ceded to Nigeria.
Disclosing this in Abuja yesterday when the Minister of Transportation, Engr. Mu’azu Sambo, hosted the Secretary General, Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa, Dr. Paul Adalikwu, said at the Ministry is hopeful that the Bank will start operations within 90 days as the Ministry would have been able to secure accommodation to enable the take-off of the Bank.
According to Mu’azu, “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 very short time. Infact 90 days is too long”.
Muazu explained that all efforts to get the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to assist with office accommodation for the Regional Bank has not yielded any outcomes, so he will approach the Attorney General of the Federation to see if one of the forfeited properties can be allocated to the bank.
He also encouraged the Secretary General, to leverage on MOWCA as a regional to push for Nigeria’s intent of becoming member of Category C in International Maritime Organization, IMO.
Speaking earlier, the Secretary General of MOWCA, Dr. Paul Adalikwu, stated that the idea of a Regional Maritime Development bank, RMDB, was conceived 11 years ago to facilitate single digit interest loans to provide leeway to key players in the sector and enable them to compete favourably with their international counterparts.
According to Adalikwu, “8 countries have signed the Charter as required in the document establishing the bank. Two weeks ago, DRC Congo also signed making it 9 countries. One above the threshold required for the establishment of the Act”.
MOWCA scribe informed that the organogram of RMDB as adopted by council members had positions of President of the body, Company Secretary and a seat on the board ceded to Nigeria while Cameroun is to produce the Vice President 1, and Ivory Coast, Vice President 2, adding that other members countries are to provide board members for the Maritime bank.
Similarly, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Transportation, Dr. Magdalene Ajani, commended Dr. Adalikwu, on the forthcoming regional meeting scheduled for Abuja in November 2022, where the Secretary General of IMO, Kitlack Lim, will seek to prevail on the 25 member States to adopt the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences (SPOMO) Act, to enable trial of piracy cases within the MOWCA sub-region irrespective of whichever sub-region the crime was committed.
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