NEXIM says 26 ships ready for regional Sealink project

The Nigerian Export Import Bank (NEXIM) has said its partners have committed 26 cargo ships for the commencement of the west and central Africa Sealink project.

The managing director of the bank, Abubakar Bello, disclosed this at the event to mark Africa Day at the just concluded Lagos International Trade Fair sponsored by the United Bank for Africa (UBA).

He said the project will also promote the inland waterways which will allow for the movement of small barges.

Recall that NEXIM had said it was targeting $1.2 billion annual exports through its Sealink project.

The bank recently signed a Sealink Project Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in this regard with Transimex S.A. Cameroon through a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV), the Sealink Promotional Company Ltd (SPCL) and National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA).

Bello said the project will bridge infrastructure gap and lower the cost trade amongst West and Central African states.

“Before now, a simple shipping from Nigeria to Cameroon which should take 48 hours would take two months because we don’t have a dedicated ocean going vessels”, he said.

He also disclosed that NEXIM is on the verge of introducing an export credit insurance to indemnify exporters from risk that may delay payment by a sovereign government.

The NEXIM boss further disclosed that the Federal Ministry of Finance has already provided seed funds to make that happen, adding, “What we are doing now is to develop the framework with other counterparts.”

He said by July 2020, the Africa Continental Free Trade Agreement will see trading commence and that NEXIM is full ready to key into the market