Nigeria has secured a $200 million commitment from the World Bank Group to expand fisheries and aquaculture production, as part of a renewed drive to make the country self-sufficient in fish. The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Dr Adegboyega Oyetola, announced the commitment at a high-level executive training session on an aquaculture investment guide in Abuja, organised by the ministry in collaboration with the World Bank Group.

The funding will be available to state governments as concessional loans, and is expected to strengthen their capacity to develop fisheries and aquaculture, unlock investment, boost domestic fish production and close Nigeria's widening fish supply gap. The country requires about 3.6 million tonnes of fish a year but currently produces only about 1.4 million tonnes, leaving a deficit of more than 2.2 million tonnes that is largely bridged by imports costing close to $1 billion a year in foreign exchange.

Oyetola was represented at the training by his senior special assistant, Professor Busayo Fakinlede. The session brought together policymakers and technical officials, including commissioners from Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta and Cross River states, as well as permanent secretaries and directors of fisheries and aquaculture from across the federation.

The ministry is also developing a national fisheries and aquaculture policy alongside a fisheries bill, aimed at a more transparent and investor-friendly environment for the sector. The push forms part of the government's wider blue economy agenda, which treats domestic fish production as a matter of food security, jobs and foreign exchange savings. Read the full report on The Sun.