(i) THE SEALINK PROJECT
NEXIM is currently facilitating the establishment of a regional maritime transnational company (the Sealink Project) in collaboration with the Organized Private Sector under the auspices of the Federation of West African Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FEWACCI). The proposed Sealink Project is aimed at mitigating current non-tariff barriers and high logistics costs that has hindered the growth of intra-regional trade and competitiveness of Nigerian manufactured exports regionally.
Though initiated and partly being facilitated by NEXIM, the Sealink Project is essentially conceived as a Public Private Partnership initiative to be managed by the private sector.
Currently, the Sealink is about to commence a pilot run of its services and is engaging with potential customers for service offtake, especially for bulk cargo in West and Central Africa, and is working with the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) on collaborative partnership (between NIWA, NEXIM and Sealink) to undertake a joint survey of the lower Niger river, with a view to promote the use of Nigerian inland waterways for moving bulk cargo.