By Tola Adenubi | Lagos
The Ship Owners Association of Nigeria (SOAN) has backed the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) over its plan to seek conversion of the 16bn Naira component of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) into Dollars.
Speaking exclusively with the Nigerian Tribune in Lagos, President of SOAN, Dr. MKGeorgeOnyung explained that the CVFF needs every Dollars that it can get to ensure it buys enough ships for indigenous operators.
According to the SOAN President, “I recently read that the Director General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh wants to look at possible ways the Naira component of the CVFF can be converted to Dollars. This is a welcome development because you cannot buy ships with Naira.
“It is very important that we take all necessary steps to ensure the CVFF is disbursed. We need to latch onto the opportunity that the Russian-Ukraine war has brought to global shipping.
“Due to the war, Russia has withdrawn most of its ships. Russia is the fifth largest shipping nation in the world, but due to the war, they have withdrawn most of their ships. Also, Ukraine has withdrawn most of her seafarers. Ukraine is one of the largest suppliers of seafarers in the world, but due to the war, most of the seafarers from Ukraine has returned home to join in the war. So, currently, there is a shortage of seafarers and ships in the world.
“This idea of NIMASA to convert the Naira component of the CVFF into Dollars will help us in getting more ships. If I am correct, the NIMASA DG said when converted, the fund can get us 30 ships. This will be awesome because with 30 ships, we can employ Nigerian seafarers and tap into the gap created by the Russian-Ukraine war to drive Nigeria’s economy. One ship can employ up to four or five seafarers. Thus, if we have 30 ships, you can imagine the number of Nigerian seafarers that will be gainfully employed.
“With enough capacity, indigenous operators can rake in billions of foreign exchange that will end up boosting our economy.
“The forthcoming election should not be a distraction. All hands must be on deck to ensure the speedy disbursement of the CVFF. We are in tandem with NIMASA over plans to convert the CVFF Naira component to Dollars. It is a welcome development.”
