NISA calls for maritime bank establishment

By Abiodun OBA

The Federal Government has been urged to expedite action on the establishment of the proposed maritime bank.

The appeal came from the Nigeria Shipowners Association (NISA) General Secretary, Otunba Jubril Rowaye, on the sideline of the meeting between the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, and ship owners and operators in Lagos, yesterday.

Rowaye argued that the establishment will bring succour to Nigerian ship owners by providing loans to them at affordable interest rates like the Bank of Industry.

He maintained that high interest rates on bank loans limit the capacity of Nigerian ship owners and prevent them from competing competitively with their foreign counterparts who get loans at a single digit interest, even less than 5 percent.

The NISA scribe, who maintained that without ship there is no maritime, insisted on the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessels Finance Fund (CVFF) by the federal government, believing that both CVFF and maritime bank will provide huge pools of funds for not only ship owners but for other investors in the industry.

On environmental sustainability, he said maritime stakeholders must adhere and comply with all safety regulations and conventions while the regulator, NIMASA, enforces the rules in line with the international practices.

Earlier, the President of NISA, Otunba Sola Adewumi, explained that the major challenge mitigating the development of shipping industry is inadequate funding.

He stated that no Nigerian ship owners could stick out necks to take bank loans with an interest above 30 percent.

“There is no ship owner in the country who can take a bank loan with an interest rate above 30%. The only solution is the Cabotage Act implementation. It is for us to implement in full the Act, which is designed to boost shipping development,” he asserted.

While rueing the precarious state of shipping activities in Nigeria, the NISA president explained that the real shipping operators do not have vessels to trade despite abundant opportunities in the country except those who trade in petroleum products.

Adewumi, who is also the Managing Director of Equatorial Energy Company, a company that specializes in bunker sales, called on the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, and the Director General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dayo Mobereola, to further dialogue with real ship owners, not paper ship owners, to chart the way forward for the industry.