Maritime intelligence for Africa's leaders.

NIGERIA’S FISHING VESSEL REGISTER: THE ACCOUNTABILITY QUESTIONS BEFORE 2027

Nigeria’s effort to establish a regional register of authorised fishing vessels has reached a stage where the quality of implementation matters as much as the ambition behind it. The initiative is intended to improve transparency, strengthen compliance and help authorities identify vessels legally permitted to operate across the West Central Gulf of Guinea. But a critical finding from Nigeria’s pilot phase raises questions about the records, verification procedures and institutional coordination on which the system will depend.