Determined to expose Nigerian businesses in the maritime sector to international capital and fast track its growth, a huge conference is due in Nigeria next month. First Bank Nigeria Plc, Bank of Industry Nigeria Limited, the National Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NAMASA) and the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping are the leading lights in the collaboration to woo international capital to the sector in the country. The synergy is paying off through a two-day international workshop with special focus on maritime finance and infrastructure development billed for Nigeria next month. The international conference is attracting leading industry speakers and professionals as resource persons.

According to Mr. Ufo Eric-Atuanya, chief executive officer of Rimsom Associates, coordinators of the event, the workshop will bring together maritime operators, shipbuilders, lawyers, bankers, insurance companies, local and domestic financiers to discuss challenges and opportunities in developing Nigeria's maritime sector.

The confirmed dignitaries for the international conference according to Eric-Atuanya are: Mr. Joe Grandmaison, executive director US Export Import Bank, Washington DC, Paulo F. Gomes, former executive director for Africa, The World Bank, Ms. Jean McKeeve, associate United States maritime administrator, US Maritime Administration, Mr. Kevin Sample, senior policy advisor to the US Secretary of Transportation and Ms. Enoh Ebong, attorney advisor, US Trade and Development Agency.

firms. The event will be held in the newly built Civic Center of the Aqua Marine Boat Club, Victoria Island, Lagos.

"This maritime finance workshop will be conducted in a roundtable format and will stand apart from other financing seminars through its format, content and degree of interactivity between the participants", Eric-Atuanya stated.

He said speakers have been hand-picked for their expert knowledge, presentation skills and enthusiasm for the subject. He added that the ultimate goal is to provide a true forum through which the key players in the industry and finance experts can deliberate on funding alternatives to enhance and sustain Nigeria's maritime industry.

"By attending this inaugural maritime finance workshop in Nigeria, you will have the perfect opportunity to follow the pace of the changes in the industry, to discover new markets and alternative financial models and meet some of the most important decision makers in the industry", he stated.

According to him, participants are being expected from leading finance institutions in the United States, Europe and Asia.

Eric-Atuanya disclosed that issues to be discussed include global overview on maritime and finance synergies, maritime operators' requirements of financial instutions and appraisal of the next emerging shipping markets. Others are making profits in maritime - the banker's approach and accessing funds - local and international options.

He said Rimsom Associates is an international consulting firm that provides strategic and practical solutions to public and private sector clients seeking to do business between the emerging markets and the developed world.

The resource persons coming to facilitate the conference are professionals, who have distinguished themselves in their own field of endeavour. Ebong is an attorney-advisor in the Office of the General Counsel at the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA). She joined USTDA in 2004 where she addresses legal issues associated with USTDA's programme development and provides advice on matters affecting the internal operation of USTDA.

Prior to joining USTDA, Ms. Ebong was an associate in the Boston office of Mintz, Levin, Cohn, Ferris, Glovsky and Popeo, P.C. practicing in the area of business and finance. Her practice included the representation of public and private companies, with an emphasis on financing transactions for both start-ups and established companies; mergers and acquisitions; and corporate governance issues.

Ebong received her undergraduate degree from the University of Edinburgh, and her Master of Arts in Communications from the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania. She received her J.D. from the University of Michigan Law School.

Paulo Gomes graduated BA in Economics and International Trade, 1986. He also attended foremost universities in the UK and US for his higher degrees. He has been founder and managing partner specializing in capital mobilization for public and private investments, strategic planning, overseas business advisory, and initiating a next generation of public-private partnerships in Africa.

His responsibilities include voting on matters of Ex-Im Bank policy and all transactions in excess of $10 million. In addition, Grandmaison assists in coordinating Ex-Im Bank's business development initiative in sub-Saharan Africa. He previously served as a member of the board from December 2001 through July 2005.

Grandmaison served from 1993 to 2001 in the Clinton Administration as director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency (TDA).

At TDA, he managed the investment of more than $425 million in more than 1,300 overseas projects specifically designed to involve U.S. companies' small and medium-sized businesses to Fortune 500 enterprises in their subsequent implementation.

Prior to joining Ex-Im Bank, Grandmaison briefly returned to the private sector as managing director, international development for Don Breazeale and Associates, a California-based transportation consulting company that specializes in port, rail and freight operations.

His previous federal service includes a presidential appointment from 1977 to 1981 as federal co-chairman of the New England Region Commission, a capacity in which he served with the six New England governors. In his professional career, Grandmaison has also been vice president of a New England-based management consulting company, an adjunct professor in the College of Communications at Boston University, and host of public affairs television programmes in Boston and New Hampshire. Active in public affairs in his home state of New Hampshire, Grandmaison was the Democratic Party nominee for governor in 1990.

Grandmaison is a graduate of Burdett College in Boston and was a fellow at Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, Institute of Politics and Senior Managers in Government programme.

The delegates will be flown into the country from the US by North American Airlines.

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