10 shipping firms to access $360m vessel acquisition fund

Worried by the absence of Nigerians in the cabotage trade, the Executive Secretary/CEO, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr Felix Ogbe, says it has given opportunities to 10 indigenous shipping firms to access its $360million domiciled at the Bank of Industry (BOI) to acquire vessels. The single-digit loan is expected to help local […]

Worried by the absence of Nigerians in the cabotage trade, the Executive Secretary/CEO, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr Felix Ogbe, says it has given opportunities to 10 indigenous shipping firms to access its $360million domiciled at the Bank of Industry (BOI) to acquire vessels.

The single-digit loan is expected to help local shipping firms acquire vessels that will enable them to take active participation in coastal trade.

The Nigeria’s Coastal Inland Shipping Act 2003 also known as the Cabotage Act reserved the commercial transportation of goods and services within Nigerian coastal and inland waters to vessels flying the Nigerian flag and owned by Nigerian.

Speaking during a panel discussion at the 2025 edition of the Maritime Business Roundtable Breakfast Meeting organised by Zoe Maritime Resources Ltd, Felix Ogbe, revealed that over 10 local shipping firms had accessed the fund.

The event with the theme; ‘Maritime Logistics and Sustainability of the Ocean Economy’ centered around coastal trade.

Ogbe who was represented by the General Manager in charge of Research, Statistics and Development of NCDMB, Mr Silas Ajimijaye, disclosed that the fund is being managed by the Bank of Industry, and that default rate had been very low as more beneficiaries have accessed the loan and have paid back in no time.

“In our law, the act allows us to collaborate with other relevant government agencies to deepen local; content which we are doing with the cabotage law to ensure compliance with the law.

“There is also the Nigerian Content Plan, NCP, which has to be in every contract arrangement to ensure what will be in such a contract for Nigerians and how Nigerians can take over such contract jobs in the long run.

“The vessels in the manning vessel, you have to show how you make Nigerians understand your system and integrate Nigerians into your system.

“NCDMB also collaborates with international companies to train Nigerian seafarers and we also do a lot of advocacy and capacity building training to enhance efficiency in the maritime and logistics chains,” he said.

Ogbe said the NCDMB also established a Maritime Vessel Categorisation System to ensure the number of people and their relevant to the particular vessels in operation.

CEO, Global Energy and Logistics, Mrs Ruth Chukwukezirim, said freight forwarding profession involved multiplicity of contracts and inter agencies involvement.

Chukwukezirim said that freight forwarding requires training and learning to enable you to get along with the Nigeria Customs Service clearing procedures.

The CEO Ocean Ambassador Foundation, Mrs Violet Williams, advised maritime heads to always work with data to enable them evaluate their performance

In her opening remarks, Convener of the meeting and Chair of Zoe Maritime Resources, Mrs Tosan Edodo-Emore, stated that maritime logistics was an acute driver of the ocean economy in the digital age.

Edodo-Emore said it was important to evaluate how logistics affects the development of the ocean economy.

In his contribution, a Navy Captain, Olabode Teniola, from Naval Dockyard Ltd., urged LASWA to collaborate with the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to reduce water pollution.

Teniola said there was the need to prevent an oil spill disaster by preparing for clearing as soon as it occurs.