10th December, 2010
Stakeholders in the maritime industry have highlighted fiscal policy as a key tool in achieving growth for the industry.
Speaking at the annual public lecture of the Nigerian Maritime Law Association on the theme Maritime Development Through Finance and Fiscal Policy, the managing Director of Skye Bank PLC, MR. Kehinde Durosinmi-Etti, who was represented by the bank’s Head of Maritime and Aviation, Sir Peter Olorunfemi, strongly canvassed the need for government to streamline the fiscal regimes applicable to the industry for improved investment and returns.
Shipowners also supported the idea, emphasised customs and stamp duties as particularly challenging factors to indigenous tonnage development. Stakeholders  sought the creation of a Multi-Door court house in the Federal High Court to facilitate quick alternative resolution of disputes.
Speaking on the subject, the President of the Maritime Arbitrators Association of Nigeria, Mrs. Doyin Rhodes-Vivour, suggested this as a means to avoid overloading the tray of the Federal High Court.
During the lecture, The Nigerian Maritime Law Association also elected a new President and two executive council members to run its affairs for the next two years. Rising from its AGM penultimate week, the association unanimously elected Mr. Louis Mbanefo (SAN) as its new President. Mr. Mbanefo replaces Hon. Justice M.B. Belgore (Rtd.), who passed on earlier in the year.
Mbanefo (SAN) is one of the country’s leading maritime lawyers and author of a number of widely referenced practice books.
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