A ban on non-African imports of seafood by Nigeria will help locals to compete on price in the domestic market with Chinese products, according to a Nigerian official.
Emeka Chukwu, director of the Andoni Fishing Port and Processing Zone, a 2,500-hectare yet-to-be-built development that will incorporate a fishing port, processing facilities, warehousing zones, and ship maintenance yards, said the effectiveness of any ban depends on Nigeria’s ability to curb smuggling that is rampant in the West African nation.
The full ban is set to come into place in Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, at the end of the year. Nigeria already has in place a ban on imports of frozen fish fillets from China, which it enacted in 2018. China shipped USD 2 million (EUR 1.85 million) worth of frozen tilapia to Nigeria in 2017. Nigeria is also a major buyer of European whitefish, such as mackerel from Iceland and Ireland. Comparatively high electricity prices and a relative absence of feed production and nutrition know-how continue to hamper the competitiveness of Nigerian aquaculture, Chukwu said.
The ban, which received attention in the Chinese press, will stimulate Nigerian competitiveness, Chukwu said.
“Sure, we can compete favorably with the Chinese imports and even offer a much lower price, because our operations will be lower in cost than theirs,” he told SeafoodSource. “Locals will pay the market prices that are friendly, which we will be offering. The possibility is that it will happen soon once modalities are in place to harness the seafood capacity here. We are working towards attaining that goal in stages.”
The Andoni Fishing Port and Processing Zone, is being billed as the first of its kind in West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea. It is expected to cost between USD 1.5 and USD 2.5 billion (EUR 1.36 billion and EUR 2.28 billion), depending on eventual design specifications.
Promoters of the Andoni project, to be built in a coastal region of Rivers State, claim the project will improve fisheries sustainability and create job opportunities. Chukwu cited a report suggesting that 360,000 jobs could be created in Africa through the tackling of illegal fishing.
The Gulf of Guinea, Chukwu added, is “one of the richest fishing grounds in the world” and home to around 1,000 species.
“We are being encouraged to develop the seafood processing market in Nigeria and the West and Central Africa region both so as to boost export earnings and also domestic consumption, thereby conserving foreign exchange as well,” he said.
Photo courtesy of Tayvay/Shutterstock
