What is the policy of government that has been hindering indigenous shipping?

There is a policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), which has made some indigenous shipping companies lose so many jobs in the maritime industry.

The policy is that for oil marketers to access the CBN funds and open a Letter of Credit (LoC), they must discharge refined petroleum being imported into Nigeria in another country.

For the CBN, that is the only way the fuel can be considered as an import. Now, the problem is that 95 per cent of the vessels that go to Lome or Cotonou port to discharge cargoes are vessels that were originally headed for Nigeria.

There are other micro industries that are associated with the discharge of petroleum products from super tankers, husbandry agents who bring a change of crew, ship suppliers, ship agents, ship to ship transfer equipment providers, boat hire and so on.

Many of these businesses, which were previously in existence in Nigeria are dead because the oil marketers now discharge products at Lome or Cotonou at the expense of the country.

The few companies that exist have to move their operations to Lome and Cotonou but they employ people in those countries where they are based.They are creating jobs in other countries but they are Nigerian companies.

Can you shed light on the implication of this policy to the nation’s economy?

There are many types of business that could have come up due to discharging operations but they are dead.

The movement of these vessels, super tankers and tankers in Lome or Cotonou has caused the economies of these countries to flourish while ours suffers.

We want the support of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in convincing the CBN that this policy is harmful to Nigeria.

We intend to discuss with the CBN so that those vessels that stay at Lome or Cotonou should come over and do their operations in Lagos. This has been on for more than four years now but it wasn’t always like this in the past.

Why do we develop other countries when we have Nigerians who are starving?Why should the discharging of these vessels not take place in Lagos? I know that my predecessors at a time met with the CBN and NIMASA over this but nothing has been done.

We also have problems with the development and training of seafarers in the industry. Our seafarers are not adequately trained.

What is your assessment of shipping business in the country this year?

The shipping market outlook for Nigeria is positive. It has been good for the year 2024 because the international market is very busy.

A lot of disruptions have happened which have positive impacts for shipping. There are lots of opportunities for Nigerians to come into the business because the business is good now.

Many international ships are busy elsewhere. So, they don’t have the time to be here in West Africa to create monopoly or competition.

It is a good thing that we are seeing a lot of opportunities for Nigerians to explore. There are Nigerian companies that have also done well in shipping. We have to now define what we call Nigerian companies.

If a company that originates from Nigeria even if the owner is not a Nigerian, does it mean that it is not a Nigerian company or is it a Nigerian company?

This is what we need to define. There are very good companies that originated very good shipping business in Nigeria today and are competing in the world as big shipping companies.

What do you think are the major challenges of Nigerian ship owners?

One of the challenges facing ship owners is the issue of taxation on ships that are loading crude oil. The Nigerian Chamber of Shipping is at the forefront of putting together the discussion between the Nigerian tax authorities and the international ship owners, tanker owners, Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO), international ship owners and putting everybody together.

Also, we have engaged the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) on discussions about the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), seafarers, ship registry and with the new executive at NIMASA. There are lots of issues to discuss.

What were the challenges under Buhari’s administration?

It has been a very challenging eight years. Remember that their first term was clouded with issues relating to oil price collapse; so, there was low activity in shipping.

You have to understand that shipping business is transporting goods, which means if there are low activities, no much money flowing in an economy, there will be less goods moving around.

So, we had a little bit of problem with the first term. The second term came with COVID-19 and that also affected the level of activities. By and large, you know shipping cut across a lot of activities.

Don’t forget that large percentage of ship owners in Nigeria are in the offshore services industry, so, when oil price collapsed, many of the businesses also stopped but they are in the recovery state now.

Things are coming up in the last few years because oil price has gone up and new investments in terms of exploration and production campaigns are coming up.

I think there is a lot of positivity in the outlook. We believe that Nigerian ship owners have a lot of opportunities to cash in their investments. The

Many international ships are busy elsewhere. So, they don’t have the time to be here in West Africa to create monopoly or competition

biggest challenge is getting the capital to invest in that business.

How do you think ship owners can tackle these challenges?

One of the ways is the intervention fund, which is the CVFF. We hope it will be disbursed. The Nigerian Content Development and Management Board (NCDMB) is also helping a great deal.

Many of the ship owners have been accessing the fund particularly the people doing business in the offshore services or support services.

They are getting funds from NCDMB and they have been investing in the business. I think it is going well in that aspect.

How can foreign dominance of Nigerian waters be reduced to the barest minimum?

Shipping is an international business. When we say foreign dominance, we have to understand that our shipping business too is to deliver services to other countries.

So, if we continue with the foreign dominance narrative, we would end up also becoming foreign dominance in their country and they will send us away. We need a lot of Nigerians to invest in that sector.

I think Nigerians don’t have the capital to invest and our banks do not understand the business so they are not giving the funds for the investment.

Furthermore, a lot of Nigerian investors who have the money don’t understand the sector; so, they are not channeling their money to that investment side.

We expect the regulatory agency, Nigerian maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the ship owners associations to create more awareness so that people can understand the industry and see that there is value to invest in.

What do you have to say about proliferation of ship owners’ associations?

I do not see it as fragmentation. Every industry has their associations. In shipping, we just have a few and we are all working together.

We know each other and we are partners in business and it is not a problem. Rather, we are all coming with different perspective to achieve our goals. Nigeria waters have been categorised as war risk zone by shipping insurers.

Unfortunately, this increases our cost of doing business because the insurance charge on ships is higher when you operate in the high war risk zone.

This means ships that operate in Nigeria have to pay extra insurance in addition to the insurance we pay for. The insurance is twice more expensive compared to areas not declared as war risk zone.

This has been there for so many years because of the piracy and insecurity issue in the land. The insurance company has declared Nigeria as a very high-risk area but the piracy issue has gone down now.

NIMASA and the associations should engage with Lloyds underwriters who have declared us as such and see to it that at their next meeting, they are able to remove Nigeria from there.

How has ship owners in the country assisted seafarers to have sea-time experience?

A lot of our youth who have undergone academic training have been given chances on ships. Many of our members have put down policies that support gender in order to give chances to the female seafarers.

Nowadays in the ship, you see that certain percentage of the Nigerian seafarers’ slot have been put aside for female seafarers and the number is increasing.

At the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping, we are also trying to collaborate with International Chamber of Shipping to ensure that our young Nigerians are given chances on international vessels so that they can compete with their counterparts in the world because shipping is global and international.

They are supposed to be trained when a ship is doing international trade. We are discussing this with our sister International Chamber of Shipping so that we can get access for both male and female seafarers.

A number of Nigerian seafarers both male and female are on board already being trained and it is an ongoing thing. We will continue to give them these opportunities.