Kasim Sumaina in Abuja
The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, has intensified efforts to reposition Nigeria as a fish-sufficient nation, securing a US$200 million dedication from the World Bank Group to help a renewed nationwide drive to develop fisheries and aquaculture manufacturing throughout the nation.
The funding to be made out there to state governments as concessional loans, is predicted to strengthen their capability to develop and develop fisheries and aquaculture actions, unlock funding alternatives, enhance home fish manufacturing and finally bridge Nigeria’s widening fish provide deficit.
Oyetola’s renewed push additionally locations larger emphasis on collaboration between federal and state governments, traders and growth companions to cut back the nation’s dependence on imported fish and strengthen nationwide meals safety.
The minister’s place was conveyed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Marine and Blue Economy, Professor Busayo Fakinlede, who represented him at a high-level Executive Training on Aquaculture Investment Guide organised by the Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy in collaboration with the World Bank Group.
The minister, in an announcement issued weekend by his Special Adviser, Bolaji Akinola mentioned Nigeria’s ambition to realize fish sufficiency might solely change into a actuality by deliberate sub-national participation, stressing that states should assume larger accountability for increasing home manufacturing.
He famous: “Fish is a pillar of food security, household nutrition and rural livelihoods. No nation can call itself food secure while it imports most of the fish it eats. Our ambition is to produce more, import less and, in time, become a net exporter. That ambition can be achieved only when every state plays its part,” he mentioned.
He additional defined that Nigeria requires roughly 3.6 million tonnes of fish yearly however at present produces about 1.4 million tonnes, leaving a deficit exceeding 2.2 million tonnes. The shortfall is basically bridged by imports, which value the nation near US$1 billion yearly in international change.
To reverse the pattern, the ministry, he mentioned is pursuing a state-driven aquaculture growth framework beneath which every state will establish precedence worth chains, assess funding readiness, develop bankable venture pipelines and decide to measurable contributions in direction of nationwide fish manufacturing.
“The US$200 million World Bank help is predicted to offer essential financing for states to implement these priorities, develop manufacturing capability and speed up the nation’s journey in direction of fish sufficiency.
A federal-state interface can also be anticipated to offer a coordinated platform for an inclusive nationwide fish safety technique, guaranteeing that the federal authorities’s ambition is translated into measurable manufacturing commitments and funding outcomes on the sub-national stage.
He recommended the World Bank Group for its strategic partnership and sustained help for Nigeria’s marine and blue economic system growth, significantly its contributions to analytical research, cluster-based growth, capability constructing and the Aquaculture Investment Guide.
He additionally reaffirmed his dedication to translating the coaching into tangible investments, disclosing that he would oversee a post-training stakeholders’ roundtable to deepen engagement with state governments and different essential actors, strengthen implementation preparations and maintain the momentum generated by the initiative.
It was designed to equip state-level decision-makers with the experience to translate funding alternatives into bankable aquaculture initiatives, with emphasis on viable enterprise fashions, danger administration, environmental and social safeguards, and public-private partnerships.
He attributed the ministry’s progress to this point to the inauguration of the Technical Committee on Accelerating Fish Production in August 2026, the digitisation of fish import licensing and the rise in nationwide fish manufacturing from 1.1 million to 1.4 million tonnes.
He additionally highlighted Nigeria’s attainment of US shrimp-export certification by compliance with Turtle Excluder Device necessities, in addition to the event of the Fish City and Fish Terminal funding portfolio to draw non-public capital.
“Through strategic collaboration, contributive support and shared commitment, we will close the fish deficit, create jobs, raise household incomes and secure Nigeria’s place as a fish-sufficient nation,” he added.
The coaching, held in Abuja, introduced collectively key policymakers and technical officers, together with commissioners from Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta and Cross River States, everlasting secretaries and administrators of fisheries and aquaculture from throughout the federation.
