Marine & Blue Economy Ministry Unveils ECMS to Drive Transparency, Investment Confidence in Blue Economy
Kathy Kyari
The Federal Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy has taken a decisive step toward institutional reform and investment readiness with the official launch of its Enterprise Content Management System (ECMS), signalling a deeper push for transparency, efficiency, and digital governance in Nigeria’s marine and blue economy.
The ECMS was jointly unveiled on Wednesday by the Honourable Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr. Adegboyega Oyetola, and the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, at the Ministry’s Fourth Quarter 2025 Stakeholders and Citizens Engagement held at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.
The theme “Positioning Nigeria’s Marine and Blue Economy for Investment, Innovation and Expansion: The Pathway,” brought together regulators, private sector operators, investors, development partners, and other stakeholders across the marine and blue economy value chain.
Delivering the keynote address, Dr. Oyetola described the forum as a defining moment in Nigeria’s efforts to reposition the marine and blue economy as a strategic pillar for economic diversification, job creation, and global competitiveness.
He said the engagement was deliberately structured to strengthen transparency, accountability, and partnerships, in alignment with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
On the ECMS launch, the Minister said the platform represents more than an internal administrative upgrade, but a strategic investment in better governance and service delivery.
“A digitally enabled Ministry is a more responsive Ministry,” Oyetola said. “Through the ECMS, we are streamlining workflows, strengthening records management, improving decision-making, and enhancing our capacity to support investors, operators, and partners with speed, clarity, and integrity.”
He underscored the sector’s strategic importance, noting that Nigeria’s vast coastline, inland waterways, and geographic location offer significant opportunities in maritime trade, fisheries, aquaculture, logistics, tourism, and related services, with the potential to drive inclusive growth and regional integration.
Highlighting recent sectoral gains, Oyetola disclosed that local fish production has increased from 1.1 million metric tonnes to 1.4 million metric tonnes within the past year. While acknowledging that the figure remains below Nigeria’s estimated annual consumption of 3.6 million tonnes, he said the growth reflects targeted interventions, improved coordination, technology deployment, and better planning.
The Minister also revealed that the Ministry has commenced engagements with financial institutions to provide single-digit interest loans for fishermen nationwide, aimed at boosting productivity, expanding access to affordable finance, empowering operators, and curbing illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing.
On the global front, Oyetola said Nigeria’s election into Category C of the International Maritime Organization (IMO), alongside its emergence as Chairman of the Conference of Ministers of the Fisheries Committee for the West Central Gulf of Guinea, reflects renewed international confidence in Nigeria’s maritime governance and reform trajectory.
He added that the Ministry’s performance has earned strong national recognition, including a 96 per cent performance rating by the Central Results Delivery Coordination Unit (CRDCU), positive assessments by the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), and National Bureau of Statistics data ranking water transportation among the top five fastest-growing sectors of the economy.
In her remarks, Mrs. Walson-Jack commended the Ministry’s reform drive, describing the ECMS go-live as a critical milestone in the Federal Civil Service’s digital transformation agenda.
She said the platform would promote paperless governance, strengthen institutional memory, reduce bureaucracy, and improve accountability and service delivery across the Ministry.
According to her, the ECMS aligns the Ministry with broader public sector reforms aimed at efficiency, transparency, and citizen-focused governance.
Stakeholders at the event, drawn from across the marine and blue economy ecosystem, reaffirmed their commitment to supporting policies and reforms that enhance investment confidence, sustainability, and long-term growth in the sector.
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