By Joshua Yousouph
The National Association of Master Mariners (NAMM) has called on the Federal Government to establish a Nigerian Maritime Bank for the development and effective financing of the nation’s shipping industry.
Speaking during a monthly meeting at the association’s secretariat in Lagos over the weekend, the President, Captain Tajudeen Alao noted that the local Maritime Bank should be supported by the government, even as he added that experts from the Nigerian maritime industry should be shareholders in the bank.
He however noted that the proposed Bank should be made to stand alone, without Government interference or the use of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF)
Capt Alao said the establishment of the maritime bank will be of great financial benefit for indigenous ship owners and shipping activities in Nigeria. He stressed that the regional maritime bank which the Federal government has signed into is for the whole region like the African Development Bank and NEXIM and others, adding that international rates are very low, the profit margin is small but income is taxed.
In his words: “The regional bank is for the region. But the maritime Bank in Nigeria should stand alone and should not be CVFF money. The maritime bank should be supported by the government being a financial institution, but the industry people should be shareholders in it. The CVFF is only contributed by law for a specific purpose. The regional Maritime Bank that the Federal Government has signed into is at the top for the whole region, like the African Development Bank and NEXIM. That one can be accessed by anybody.
“We want the local Maritime Bank so that the interest rate will go along with maritime. The people who will work on it will not just be general finance people, but people that understand the issues. The international rates are very low and the profit margin is small but the income is taxed. That is where maritime nations make money. The agricultural sector has it. So we should have the same thing in the maritime sector” he said.
While commenting on the CVFF, the association’s helmsman noted that Nigeria cannot be a shipping hub if its Act is not looked in and straightened. He said some indigenous ship owners have been given contracts to lift cargoes by the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) but have no ships or access to funds. He however urged the government to effectively disburse the CVFF for the empowerment and development of shipping in Nigeria.
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“The CVFF was a private initiative before the government took it over and the idea was for the indigenous players and not for international shipping, to have a contribution where they can access funds and that fund should be given to the people. You can know the players and mounted proper structures through the DOC to manage the ship. They can say on equity, that four to five companies can come together to lift crude. You can have your own business and have a quoted company that you all have a stake in. NNPC has given SOAN a contract to lift cargo, but they have no money or ship. This is because of the money they have they don’t have access to it. If you want to get a normal bank loan, it is a long process and the interest rate is high.
Also, a former President of the association, Captain Adewale Ishola while presenting a paper on “STCW – Near Coastal Voyage/Unlimited – Trading Areas”, noted that the law is very clear as regards the basic requirements for certification in the shipping industry particularly seafarers as contained in the STCW Convention of 2010 as amended.
Capt Ishola said: “Seafaring is an international matter and should be treated as such. We should be given any tax waiver for the period we are on the ship which we are trading worldwide. Anytime you are not in the country you cannot be paying tax. In other climes, they give you a tax waiver once you are outside their country. You are a seafarer working and you also repatriate money into the economy. So you are given that tax waiver because you are a citizen of that country. I think Nigeria should also emulate these countries.
“The shortage of seafarers is a worldwide problem. IMO identified it some years ago. That was why they were encouraging women to go to the sea, so that we have more people. The shortage of seafaring is international and not limited to Nigeria. That is why IMO has mandated that every year they want people to go to sea. This is because in our days it was very attractive and lucrative. We were earning more money at that time. Nowadays, people in ICT are the ones dominating and earning all the money. It is not encouraging for people to go to sea and earn meagre money when people ashore here are earning bigger money. It is the issue of economy of scale. So people prefer to go and work in a company that can give them big money as an ICT expert than you going to Sea to suffer yourself and at the end of the day you’re paid peanut. The issue is the that of Finance” Ishola said.
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