The Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Jaji Sambo, has assured that within the next 90 days, the ministry will secure accommodation to enable the take-off of the Regional Maritime Development Bank (RMDB).
The minister spoke when the Secretary-General, Maritime Organisation of West and Central Africa (MOWCA), Dr. Paul Adalikwu, visited him in his office in Abuja.
Mu’azu, however, noted that effort to get accommodation through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has not yielded any outcomes.
He said he would approach the Attorney-General of the Federation to see if one of the forfeited properties can be allocated to the bank.
This is contained in a statement endorsed by the Director of Press and Public Relations of the ministry, Eric Ojiekwe
“When I resumed here, I realised immediately that the regional maritime bank is one of the lowest hanging fruits that we can achieve within a very short time; in fact, 90 days is too long,” he said.
The minister urged the Secretary-General, to leverage MOWCA to push for Nigeria’s intent of becoming a member of Category C in the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).
Earlier, Dr. Adalikwu, explained that the idea of a regional bank was conceived 11 years ago to facilitate single digit interest loans to provide freedom to key players in the sector and enable them compete favourably with their international counterparts.
He said: “Eight countries have signed the Charter as required in the document establishing the bank. Two weeks ago, DRC Congo also signed, making it nine countries which makes it one above the threshold required for the establishment of the Act.”