The Nigerian Institution of Marine Engineers and Naval Architects (NIMENA) has urged the Federal Government and private sector to establish a unified national innovation agenda after an assessment scored Nigeria’s maritime and energy innovation ecosystem 43.75 out of 100.
The assessment, developed with global innovation platform Plug and Play, classified the ecosystem as “Emerging”, identifying skills gaps, weak industry collaboration and difficulties commercialising research as major constraints to indigenous technology development.
The Maritime and Energy Ecosystem Capability Model (ECM) recommends a coordinated framework to connect government institutions, businesses, universities, investors and startups, to attract investment, develop skilled workers and expand local technology capacity.
Speaking at the report’s launch, Eferebo Sylvanus, NIMENA national chairman, said fragmented innovation initiatives were limiting the country’s ability to harness opportunities in the maritime and energy sectors.
“While national startup acceleration programmes across the public and private sectors are laudable, working in isolation limits our collective impact,” Sylvanus said.
“To transform Nigeria’s maritime and energy sectors into a global innovation hub, we must move past fragmentation and unite behind a coherent, structured framework.”
The assessment examined five dimensions: capital, network, society, initiatives and regulations, covering access to finance, institutional partnerships, talent development, innovation infrastructure and the regulatory environment.
Regulations emerged as the ecosystem’s strongest dimension, while network and society recorded the weakest performances, highlighting gaps in collaboration, specialised skills development and talent retention.
The report identified three interconnected challenges: difficulty turning Nigeria’s youthful population into industry-ready talent, a mismatch between corporate needs and local startups’ technical capabilities, and inconsistent implementation of policies and funding mechanisms.
It said startups struggling to secure commercial contracts often find it difficult to attract investment, while inadequate funding limits their ability to develop technologies that meet industry requirements.
To address these constraints, NIMENA proposed a Maritime and Energy Innovation Hub to link local technology developers with corporate challenges, pilot projects, investors and international partners.
The proposed hub would be developed through a phased five-year roadmap, with the goal of moving Nigeria’s innovation ecosystem into the “Advanced” category by 2030.
Other recommendations include dedicated funding for maritime and energy startups, clearer regulatory pathways, supervised testing environments for emerging technologies and a Maritime Skills Activation Framework linking education and professional certification to industry needs.
The report also identified remote condition monitoring, digital twins and virtual asset management as areas where stronger domestic capabilities could increase local participation in technology-driven industrial activities.
Nigeria was benchmarked against Kenya, Egypt, South Africa and Singapore to examine approaches to investment mobilisation, institutional coordination, talent development and innovation support.
Sylvanus said NIMENA would transmit the report to relevant government ministries, regulatory agencies, engineering bodies and the National Assembly as a policy advisory resource.
The institution urged policymakers, industry leaders, academic institutions, investors and development partners to support implementation, arguing that coordinated action would be necessary to convert research into commercial technologies and create skilled jobs.
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