The World Bank defines the Blue Economy as the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and job creation, while preserving the health of ocean ecosystems. Alfe City defines it as the unique opportunity to confront most of Nigeria's headline economic challenges - lack of productivity, unemployment, transportation infrastructural deficit and sustainable development.
Global standards for a sustainable Blue Economy focus on balancing economic growth with environmental protection and social equity. Some key principles include:
Ecosystem Protection - Ensuring marine ecosystems remain diverse, productive and highly resilient; Compliance with Regulations Adhering to international, regional, and national legal frameworks that support ocean health; Risk Awareness; Making investment decisions based on long-term environmental, social, and economic impacts.
A sustainable Blue Economy offers the country the unique opportunity to confront most of its headline economic challenges. For most of Nigeria history it's been run like a factory for corrupt rulers to make their immediate gains without any concern for the future. Meaning that sustainability has not been a factor subsequently, there is no economic foundation. The blue economy is a chance to attend to these building blocks without which whatever is being done is in vain.
It will improve the quality of life for most people through higher productivity, employment, improved transportation infrastructure. The construction of new ports would require construction of new roads, railways, new centers of economic growth that would positively affect the the prospect of future generations.
To start with, the present government in recognition of the importance of the Blue Economy has created a new Ministry called the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy. The ministry is responsible for creating the policy framework for the introduction of Blue Economy in Nigeria and managing the Ecosystem. At the moment the Ministry is in the process of facilitating the foundational necessity of the country's Blue Economy policy objectives.
Alfe City Institution has been at the fulcrum of the Nigerian Blue advocacy since the year 2020. The organization has organized series of conferences across the country and advising the government of the best way to employ the Blue Economy to correct the many shortcomings of the National economy. This has involve coordination with different stakeholders at the Federal and state levels.
Yes. It started with the Nigerian Blue Economy Stakeholders Conference held in 2021 and since many others. The series will conclude this year with the Sustainable Nigerian Blue strategy conference which is designed to be the last of the advocacy series where strategy and policy decisions must be made. And this is coinciding with the Government's effort to arrive at a Nigeria Blue Economy policy document.
That is a strategically important question. The blue economy assumes the existence of a confident, secured security environment which unfortunately does not exist in the country today. The federal government has a responsibility to put in place the security architecture that can guarantee the safety of people and provide confidence to those that will want to invest in the physical infrastructure required for a sustainable Nigerian Blue Economy.
With determination and appreciation of the fundamental imperative of a sustainable Nigerian Blue, achieving sustainable implementation should be in the medium term - five years time scale.
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