Africa needs support for green shipping transition – NIMASA

As global leaders prepare to meet in Mombasa, Kenya, for the 11th Our Ocean Conference, Nigeria's Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) is calling for robust international collaboration to support Africa's transition to green shipping. NIMASA emphasizes that developing countries, particularly in Africa, require coordinated global support, reliable emissions data, technology transfer, and climate finance to achieve net-zero emissions in the maritime sector.

Dr. Oma Ofodile, Director of Marine Environment Management at NIMASA, stated that Nigeria aims to promote an inclusive and equitable approach to maritime decarbonization during the conference. She highlighted that the future of green shipping hinges not only on environmental commitments but also on countries' access to technology, capacity building, accurate emissions data, and adequate funding. Ofodile stressed that no single nation can achieve maritime decarbonization in isolation, a lesson learned from Nigeria's participation in previous climate conferences.

NIMASA has been a proponent of collective action, championing the idea of an African coalition at COP28 in Dubai to support the International Maritime Organization's greenhouse gas reduction strategy. This initiative stems from the recognition that African nations share similar challenges in adopting low-carbon shipping practices and would benefit from unified efforts. "African countries need to work together, share experiences, attract investments, and build common positions on key issues," Ofodile said.

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We recognised early that collaboration would be essential. No single country can successfully navigate this transition alone. African countries need to work together, share experiences, attract investments, and build common positions on key issues.

A significant outcome of these discussions, according to NIMASA, is the growing consensus on the necessity of reliable emissions data as the bedrock of any effective decarbonization strategy. A collaboration between NIMASA and University College London to create a national maritime emissions inventory revealed substantial weaknesses in existing data collection methods. Much of the data is still manually collected, hindering accuracy and long-term analysis. "You cannot effectively manage what you cannot measure," Ofodile noted, underscoring the need for a clear understanding of Nigeria's maritime sector emissions before setting targets or discussing financing.

This realization has spurred the development of the Nigerian Maritime Continuous Emissions Monitoring System. This initiative aims to establish structured, digitalized, and sophisticated monitoring systems capable of providing continuous emissions data, addressing the urgent need for improved data accuracy and analysis in the sector.

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You cannot effectively manage what you cannot measure. Before discussing emission reduction targets or financing mechanisms, we needed to understand the actual emissions profile of the Nigerian maritime sector.