Shipowners across the country have lauded the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, for directing the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to commence the long-awaited disbursement process of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF).
The Minister’s directive signals a decisive step toward revitalizing Nigeria’s indigenous shipping industry, after more than two decades of delayed implementation of the fund meant to support local ship acquisition and fleet expansion.
Speaking on the development, the Managing Director of Starzs Marine and Engineering Ltd and former President of the Shipowners Association of Nigeria (SOAN), Mr. Greg Ogbeifun, described the directive as a bold and commendable move.
“The Minister’s move is extremely commendable,” Ogbeifun said. “The important thing is that due process, according to the requirements of the Act, has to be followed. I’ve looked at the marine notice that was sent out and I think it’s majorly in line with the Act.”
He noted that the directive is a significant effort to resolve the long-standing bottlenecks that have hindered the release of the fund, which was established under the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act, 2003.
Also speaking, the current President of SOAN and Managing Director of Petromarine Nigeria Ltd, Mr. Sonny Eja, hailed the move as long overdue but timely.
“This is a welcome development,” he said. “It’s exciting to hear that the disbursement will be done in partnership with the Bank of Industry (BoI). The single obligor limit of $25 million is reasonable and gives room for meaningful use of the fund.”
Eja, however, cautioned that stringent measures must be put in place to ensure that beneficiaries do not divert the funds.
“There should be proper monitoring and recovery strategies. Beneficiaries must be made to commit to judicious use of the fund to avoid creating a pool of non-performing loans. The equity contribution requirement is also a good step in ensuring commitment on the part of the borrower,” he added.
On his part, the President of the Nigerian Shipowners Association (NISA), Mr. Sola Adewunmi, said this was the first time a sitting Minister would publicly instruct NIMASA to kick-start the process.
“With the Minister’s pronouncement, we’re hopeful things will finally change. But we’re also waiting to see the official guidelines for disbursement. Once they are released, we’ll be able to determine the practicality and fairness of the process,” Adewunmi said.
The CVFF was created to provide financial assistance to indigenous shipping operators for vessel acquisition, but disbursement has been delayed for over 20 years due to administrative and political challenges.
Stakeholders hope that with this renewed political will, the fund will finally be deployed to boost capacity and competitiveness in Nigeria’s maritime sector.