The Nigerian shipowners will need an additional N904 billion as an addition to the N36 billion accrued in the Cabotage Vessels Financing Fund (CVFF) to acquire vessels needed for the maritime industry in the next four years, a report has shown.

This is even as the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Dakuku Peterside, said the CVFF is not enough to finance the acquisition of maritime assets by indigenous shipowners.

According to Nigeria’s Maritime Industry Forecast 2019-2020, tagged: “Harnessing The Maritime And Shipping Sector For Sustainable Growth” launched  in Lagos by NIMASA recently, Nigeria’s maritime sector has been estimated to spend about N939.5 billion ($2.588 billion) on vessels financing in the next four years

Dr. Peterside who was considering the fact that shipping is capital intensive said since the CVFF is not adequate to address the huge demand for maritime asset, NIMASA is looking at other Ship Financing Models to encourage the local operators.

 “To enable Nigerians to play a major role in the maritime and shipping sector, two things are critical, the first is asset acquisition and the second is human capacity.

“It’s a known fact that shipping is capital intensive and that the CVFF which there is so much noise about isn’t adequate to address the huge demand for Maritime assets. Because of that NIMASA is working with other stakeholders and we are looking at other ships financing models.