N904bn funding gap threatens vessels acquisition by Nigerian shipowners
Lagos -- The Nigerian shipowners will need an additional N904 billion to the N36 billion accrued in the Cabotage Vessels Financing Fund, CVFF, to acquire vessels needed for the maritime industry in the next four years, a report has shown.
The report is coming as the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, said that the CVFF is not enough to finance the acquisition of maritime assets by indigenous shipowners.
According to Nigeria’s Maritime Industry Forecast 2019-2020, tagged, “Harnessing The Maritime And Shipping Sector For Sustainable Growth”, launched in Lagos by NIMASA, Nigeria’s maritime sector has been estimated to spend about N939.5 billion ($2.588 billion) on vessels financing in the next four years
Dr. Peterside, who was considering the fact that shipping is capital intensive, said since the CVFF is not adequate to address the huge demand for maritime asset, NIMASA was looking at other ship financing models to encourage the local operators.
“To enable Nigerians to play a major role in the maritime and shipping sector, two things are critical, the first is asset acquisition and the second is human capacity.
“It’s a known fact that shipping is capital intensive and that the CVFF which there is so much noise about isn’t adequate to address the huge demand for Maritime assets. Because of that NIMASA is working with other stakeholders and we are looking at other ships financing models," he said.
He continued, “We have had series of engagement at the highest level with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Federal Ministry of Finance (FMOF) and we are pushing for special intervention funds at special interest rate not more than a single digit interest rate and other incentives that will drive optimal performance in the sector.
“We shall not relent in our drive to put the right framework together to help beneficiaries and investors have a good return on investment.”