WIMA wants FG to assist ship operators with funds through CVFF, and the establishment of a maritime bank to enable shipowners access funds
By Uzor Odigbo
Sequel to delays in the disbursement of funds to operators for ship acquisition, the Women In Maritime Association (WIMA) Nigeria Branch had advocated for the utilisation of the Cabotage Vessels Financing Fund (CVFF) for the establishment of a “Maritime Bank.”
According to Daily Focusonline, WIMA reiterated that the establishment of a maritime bank would enable ship owners and other major stakeholders in accessing funds for vessel acquisition following delays by the government in disbursing the pool of funds that has accrued into billions of naira.
President of WIMA, Nigeria, Mrs Rollens Macfoy who disclosed this on Thursday at the 7th Year Anniversary Lectures and Awards put together by Searchlight Media Concept, lamented that maritime stakeholders in the shipping sub-sector, most time experience difficulties in an attempt to access soft loans for the acquisition of ships.
According to her, Government involvement in floating a maritime bank would further empower ship owners and investors to buy ships for the optimisation of the industry.
While speaking during a paper presentation with the topic, ‘The role of maritime manpower development for Nigeria economic growth, Macfoy who is also the Managing Director, Oceandeep Nigeria Limited a manning agent outfit, stated that WIMA Nigeria will continue to campaign as an agent of change in the nation’s shipping industry adding that the CVFF was long overdue for disbursement to ship owners.
She noted that ship acquisition for operators in the industry would further boost capacity and enhance indigenous participation in the shipping industry.
Macfoy stressed that the lack of a maritime bank has contributed to a major setback for shipowners in capacity building and manpower development due to the high lending rates from conventional banks in the country.
The President affirmed that the CVFF has what it takes to establish the much-talked bank for the industry groups.
Expressing dissatisfaction over the multiple checkpoints at sea, Macfoy clamoured for the harmonisation of such levies and taxes collected from ships on the nation’s coastal waters for the sector growth, lamenting the lack of government concentration and funding has halted the industry development.
The WIMA boss further queried delay in the installation of scanners at the nation’s seaports for the ease of cargo clearance, even as she maintained that political willpower from the government can turn around the fortune of the maritime sector.
Aside from maritime bank establishment, while harping on the way forward of these quagmires bedevilling the industry, Macfoy clamoured for a technologically driven industry powered with adequate equipment and facilities to boost capacity.
Earlier Publisher Searchlight Magazine, Comrade Lola Adesokan called on the federal government to expedite actions for the completion of the port corridors.
According to her, the slow pace of road construction has a ripple effect on the shipping sub-sector of the nation’s economy.
