The Shipping Trade Group (STG) have sent petition to President Tinubu for intervention on alleged economic sabotage by top NNPCL officials for collecting a minimum of $20 US Dollar as kickbacks, tagged as commissions on each barrel of crude oil from foreign ship owners for freighting the export of Nigerian crude oil cargoes and import of fuel products, thereby killing the development of indigenous shipping in Nigeria.
According to a chieftain of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, Kayode Fatinto, foreigners control over 90 percent of the nation’s shipbuilding industry because local shipowners lack the necessary capital to purchase new vessels.
Also, President of the Nigerian Association of Master Mariners, Captain Tajudeen Alao, said, “Shipping is capital-intensive. There is no bank financing ship-acquisition except if it is attached to a long-term contract.
“Nigeria’s involvement in this sector is currently being curtailed by the short-term contracts that international oil companies (IOCs) deal in. The tanker trade has 95 percent foreign dominance. The shipping imports and exports are 100 percent foreign. The oil services are about 60/40 percent in favour of foreigners”.
Similarly, ship Captain, and South West Director of the Merchant Seafarers Association of Nigeria, Williams Ogunshakin, said foreigners had over 90 percent dominance. He said “The percentage is almost 90 percent. When you talk of tankers, foreigners own up to 90 percent and Nigerians own only 10 percent”, he stated.
He criticised the current dominance of foreign operators in Nigeria’s shipping sector, calling for immediate action from NIMASA and the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy to provide cargo opportunities for Nigerians.
Industry players had high expectations that the Cabotage Fund, which had not yet been disbursed for more than 10 years, would finally be disbursed when Jamoh, a maritime insider, took office in 2020. However, their hopes were dashed after four years, as the fund was not disbursed throughout his tenure.
As part of moves to ensure the speedy disbursement of the fund, the former Minister of Transportation, Mu’azu Sambo, announced in December 2022 that the Federal Government had chosen five banks, namely Union Bank, Polaris Bank, Zenith Bank, United Bank for Africa and Jaiz Bank, to serve as primary lending institutions for the disbursement of the CVFF to Nigerian shipowners to enable them to acquire vessels.
The plan to disburse funds to indigenous shipowners however, hit a snag when the banks demanded 8.5 per cent interest rates. The shipowners were reportedly not pleased with the high interest rates and opposed the idea.
Consequently, NIMASA rejected the banks’ offer, and the funds have still not been disbursed to date.
