Nigeria has clinched a $1 billion innovation fund targeted at supporting start-ups in the maritime and blue economy sector, in a move aimed at repositioning the country’s marine industry, reducing revenue leakages to neighbouring ports and creating jobs for young people.
The fund was unveiled on Monday in Abuja by Ronke Kosoko, the Chief Executive Officer of the Maritime Innovations Hub, during a media parley organised in collaboration with the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy.
The engagement drew senior government officials and stakeholders, including Olusegun Dada, Special Adviser to the President on Social Media, as well as representatives of the National Inland Waterways Authority, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the Nigerian Shippers’ Council and other ministries and agencies.
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Kosoko said the $1 billion facility would be formally launched at the Blue Economy Investment Summit scheduled to hold in Lagos from March 9 to 11, 2026, adding that international financiers are expected to hold high-level meetings with President Bola Tinubu and Olayemi Cardoso, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), during the event.
She explained that the fund followed an earlier $100 million training bid secured for capacity development in the maritime sector.
“When the $100 million offer came I wasn’t looking for it because people trust me globally due to our track records a but we have rearranged another offer and it was in the process of processing that the $1 billion offer came so we had to go back to the Presidency again and that informed why you have been seeing me around the Ministry in the last six months, I had to get down into the trenches and grateful we are now at the end because they will now be coming back into the country to meet with the Minister for Marine and Blue Economy, the Central Bank Governor as well as the President in March 2026 and they also plan to support some start ups in the sector with funding and international training so the stage is set,” she said.
According to her, global investors are less concerned about domestic politics and more focused on concrete outcomes.
“People and organisations have money, in billions of Euros and Dollars but they are not interested in our dirty politicking and games, they are interested in the task to be achieved so when we are ready with that, they will flow in,” she added.
The development aligns with Nigeria’s broader push to diversify its economy away from oil by harnessing the blue economy, which spans maritime transport, fisheries, coastal tourism, shipbuilding and ocean-based renewable energy.
Despite its long coastline and strategic location along major shipping routes, growth in the sector has been hampered by weak infrastructure, regulatory bottlenecks and limited access to finance, pushing shipping lines to neighbouring countries.
Kosoko said the newly secured fund is expected to help close some of these gaps by providing capital, skills development and international exposure for start-ups.
She also disclosed that the March 2026 summit would directly engage a large youth population across the country.
“370,000 youths across 36 States of the Federation including the FCT will be connecting live to the President at the event from their State Capital and we will be working with the PBATMEDIACENTRE on this particular demographics.
“28 State Governors on the table and 10 of them are represented at this Media Parley.
“37 Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria,” she added.
On the challenges confronting the sector, Kosoko lamented Nigeria’s continued loss of maritime revenue to neighbouring countries such as Togo and Côte d’Ivoire, as shipping lines increasingly avoid Nigerian ports.
“It is also no longer news that Nigeria is losing billions to Lome, Togo, Cote d I’voire as vessels now prefer to berth in those countries rather than coming to Nigeria and those countries studied our weaknesses as a country and built a business around Nigeria’s failure so all the shipping lines moved to smaller African countries so Nigeria does trans-shipment and smuggling from there,” she said.
She noted that addressing these losses is a key priority for the Technical Assistant to the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, who will lead a dedicated session on the issue at the summit.
“This particular conversation is very dear to the heart of the Technical Assistant to the Honorable Minister for Marine and Blue Economy and he has given us a mandate to ensure that we all roll our sleeves in wrestling back these lost opportunities for Nigeria but will Nigeria listen to him and allow him do his job?
“How much time do we have left as the giant of Africa to wrestle back these opportunities and what do we have to do and by who?
“He will be leading this session at the main event in March 2026,” she added.
Speaking at the parley, the Special Adviser to the President on Social Media, urged policymakers to simplify government policies and communicate them in clearer terms, stressing that initiatives should be easily understood by young people and the wider public rather than being couched in technical language.
