Why National Carrier project is delayed - Hassan Bello

Funso Olojo

The need for government to clean up the shipping sector which is murky and encumbered to make it more attractive to foreign investors has necessitated the delay in the floating of the national fleet.

Barrister Hassan Bello, in an exclusive interview with our correspondent in his Abuja office yesterday, disclosed that government has identified some inhibitive factors that scared off foreign investors in the shipping sector which it is working hard to clean up to make the sector competitive and attractive.

It would be recalled that the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, had few years ago indicated the intention of government to float a national fleet in a bid to capture the huge revenue the country loses to foreign shipping owners.

As a result of this, a national fleet implementation committee headed by the Nigerian Shippers’ Council was inaugurated to drive the project.

The committee, as part of its efforts to attract foreign investors, signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MOU) two year ago with a Singaporean shipping company, PIL, to invest in the project .

However, PIL backed out of the partnership, a development that caused a set back for the project.

However, Bello disclosed that the Singaporean shipping company backed out of the MoU due to the unfavourable business climate in the Nigerian shipping sector.

“The operating environment of shipping in Nigeria is murky and not profitable because there are many obstacles.

“These obstacles include lack of incentives for investors, lack of infrastructure, lack of government support and the unwillingness of private sector to support the project.

“The National Fleet Committee had to go back and we have now retraced our steps” the Shippers’Council boss disclosed.

He declared that the committee is being meticulous and systematic in its approach to ensure that the project is sustainable and enduring.

“It is not as easy as people thought. National fleet is something so important that has to be done painstakingly which may take up to one or two years “Bello stated.

In a bid to ensure the success of the venture, he disclosed that the committee had to engage critical stakeholders and government agencies which inputs and cooperation are needed for the success of the project.

“We approached and secured the attention of the Vice-President, we addressed the Economic team,Minister of Finance, Minister of Budget and Planning, NIMASA, NPA, Federal Inland Revenue whose cooperation and contributions are vital for the sustainability of the project and they are all receptive to the laudable enterprise ” Bello revealed.
He lamented that Nigeria has lost huge revenue to foreign shipping companies due to the absence of national carrier, a situation he said government is determined to reverse.

“If we get it right, it would translate to much more earnings from freight.
Let me give you what we are losing as a result of lack of national carrier for the country.

“Each year, we pay about $9.1 billion in freight to foreign ships.
Between 2004-2017, Nigeria recorded a total vessels traffic of 25,256 vessels with gross freight of $39 billion while we earned a paltry sum of one million dollars as levy for NIMASA.”the Shippers’Council helmsman declared.

He disclosed that the committee has come to recognise the need for comprehensive reforms in the shipping sector to make it more attractive and competitive.

“There are lots of reforms to be made such as flag administration. The ship registry in Nigeria will have to be reformed in line with international standard to enable us attract people to come and register their vessels in the country.

“We need vessel building and repair yards so that we don’t have to take our vessels to another countries for repairs.

“We need to reform our nautical colleges such as Maritime Academy of Nigeria so that they will provide the best cadets with sea time experience using Nigerian ships.”Bello declared.

He also said that some of our laws of carriage such as FOB has to be changed to CIV to attract investors to the project, a move he lauded NIMASA for championing.

He further noted that a regime of incentives has to be introduced to make shipping thrives and sustainable .

“There is need for tax holiday, pioneering status, suspension of certain levies for certain times, say two to three years for national carrier to enable the vessels to compete ”

Bello disclosed that the committee has to be thorough and painstaking in its assignment in a bid to berth an enduring national shipping carrier.

He therefore appealed for the patience and understanding of stakeholders in this regard to enable government bequeath a competitive shipping sector.

He declared that government has no intention of getting involved in the project as it was designed to be private-driven.

“Government is only facilitating the project through the creation of enabling environment.
” It is wholly private -driven with 40 per cent for foreign ship owners and 60 percent for indigenous ship-owners “Bello concluded.