Emperical evaluation of the maritime industry’s impact on the Nigerian economy

This study carried out an assessment of the role of NIMASA in the development of Nigerian Maritime industry and the impact of shipping on the Nigerian economy on the other hand. Major emphasis was laid on the relationship between the number of vessels registered by NIMASA per period and the corresponding revenue generated. With a collection of port vessel registration and the corresponding revenue accrued, a regression model was developed to investigate the relationship between Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Nigeria and other economic variables such as cargo throughput (from the shipping sub-sector of the maritime industry), the balance of payment and exchange rate to reveal the rate of Naira – Dollar denomination within a 12 year study period. The results of the analysis reveals that even though the maritime sector exhibits great potentials of contributing immensely to the growth of the maritime industry and the Nigeria economy; it is suggested that NIMASA should intensify efforts in capacity building and maritime financing in order to create room for optimal implementation of the cabotage.