Nigerian Shipowners to Access $25m Each Under CVFF—Oyetola

By Adedapo Adesanya

The Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Mr Adegboyega Oyetola, says successful Nigerian shipowners under the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) will access up to $25 million each to acquire vessels and expand their operations.

He made this disclosure while outlining the administration’s efforts to unlock the CVFF after more than two decades and repeated delays in implementation.

Mr Oyetola said the fund would help strengthen Nigeria’s indigenous shipping industry, create jobs and reduce the dominance of foreign operators in the country’s maritime sector.

According to him, access to affordable, long-term financing has remained one of the major constraints limiting the growth of Nigerian-owned shipping companies.

“Under the CVFF, each successful applicant will be able to access up to $25 million in financing to acquire vessels, subject to the applicable assessment and approval process,” he said.

The CVFF, established under the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act of 2003, was designed to empower Nigerian shipping companies through access to structured financing for vessel acquisition. However, successive administrations failed to operationalise the fund—until now.

The minister said the financing, which would be provided at very low interest rates, would enable indigenous shipowners to acquire modern vessels, expand their fleets and compete for coastal and offshore contracts.

He said he had directed the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) to work with the 12 approved Primary Lending Institutions (PLIs) to accelerate the disbursement of the fund to qualified applicants.

Mr Oyetola disclosed that NIMASA had so far received 92 applications, with 20 forwarded to the approved banks for further processing, while one application had been reviewed and forwarded for approval.

He said the government had increased the number of approved banks from five to 12 and launched the CVFF Application Portal to make the application and disbursement process more transparent and accessible.

The minister said unlocking the fund would stimulate activities across the maritime value chain, including shipbuilding, ship repairs, marine engineering, vessel maintenance and maritime logistics.

He added that the initiative could create more than 30,000 direct and indirect jobs while strengthening Nigeria’s ship-owning and shipbuilding ecosystem.

Mr Oyetola said the government’s objective was to ensure that more Nigerian-owned vessels operated on the country’s waters and that a greater share of the economic value generated from maritime activities remained within Nigeria.

He said financing vessels was only one aspect of the government’s efforts to build indigenous capacity, noting that investment was also being made in developing skilled Nigerian seafarers.

According to him, 222 seafarers have received free professional training, while 333 cadets have completed their academic training and obtained degrees.

He further said 135 cadets under the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme had obtained Certificates of Competency, while 7,059 Nigerian seafarers had been placed onboard vessels to acquire sea-time experience.

The minister said the government remained committed to ensuring that Nigerians owned, operated and benefited from economic activities taking place within the nation’s maritime sector.

“We are building the capacity to make that happen — through vessel financing, skills development, indigenous enterprise and strategic investment in our maritime sector,” he said.