Nigeria’s Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy is seeking new funding to implement its ambitious 10-year policy, with officials acknowledging that public funding is insufficient for the scale of transformation envisioned.

At a stakeholder meeting in Lagos, Adegboyega Oyetola, the coordinating minister, said finance is the “lever that will attract long-term and progressive capital critical” and determine whether the ministry’s goals take off.

The funding gap, according to Olufemi Oloruntola, the ministry’s permanent secretary, must be closed to move from policy to practice. “Resources we currently receive from the national budget are grossly inadequate compared to the enormous responsibility before the ministry and sector,” he warned. He described public funding not as charity but as “seed capital” that would unlock private investment.

Without sufficient funding, Nigeria risks falling behind its neighbors while billions of naira continue to leak abroad through freight payments on foreign vessels.

The ministry’s 10-year policy maps out certain priorities, from port modernization and inland waterways to fish landing sites, aquaculture, marine tourism, and renewable energy.

Oloruntola argued that the sector’s potential goes beyond trade, pointing to the surge of diaspora spending every festive season. With the right coastal infrastructure, he said, the marine economy could capture a slice of those inflows as foreign exchange and revenue. With government funding inadequate, the ministry and capital market operators see bonds as alternative financing.

Jude Chiemeka, chief executive of the Nigerian Exchange, said blue bonds, which are loans raised through the capital market but tied specifically to projects that protect or develop marine projects, could unlock huge sums of much-needed capital.

“We have N24.6 trillion in pension assets, with 5 percent set aside for sustainability, including blue and green bonds,” he told stakeholders.

The NGX reckons that once incorporated into the national budget, the Debt Management Office could issue the bonds, attracting both domestic pension funds and international investors.

Seychelles, Chiemeka pointed out, raised $15 million from a blue bond to support its fisheries industry, a scale Nigeria, with over 853 km of coastline and significant freshwater bodies, could surpass.

However, Oloruntola stressed that the first step remains legislative. “Even the most innovative financial tools and private investments require a solid public funding base to thrive,” he said. “We therefore call on the relevant authorities, most especially the National Assembly, to prioritise the marine and green economy sector.” He emphasized that Nigeria “must match ambition with resources” and “strategy into execution.”