Everybody who is interested in maritime issues in West Africa should have a look at a new document, published by Risk Intelligence. The Nigeria maritime security forecast for 2017 is available as a free download on the company’s website.
Attacks against merchant vessels off Nigeria will remain a problem for ship operators in 2017. Risk Intelligence’s maritime security forecast for the country underlines this and several other significant trends for this year. Moreover, the forecast identifies seven types of potential security incidents with varying threat levels.
Nigerian president Muhammadu Buhari has gained some respect for his efforts to tackle corruption. However, his government has so far failed to diversify the economy. Militancy in the Niger Delta throughout 2016 has increased problems even further. Attacks underlined that security and economic challenges are closely related.
For maritime operations, developments since early 2016 hold a mixed picture. Crude oil exports were down while imports of refined products increased due to lower output from domestic refineries. Overall, imports decreased due to the falling exchange rate. At the same time, exports are likely to increase and bulk carrier operators are the most likely beneficiaries, particularly for exports of agricultural goods.
Risk Intelligence’s Nigeria maritime security forecast for 2017 has been published in January to users of the Risk Intelligence System (MaRisk+PortRisk). The document can now be downloaded for free.
The full report can be found here.
