The African Association of Professional Freight Forwarders and Logistics has written to the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, demanding the verification of the credit ratings of shipowners before the disbursement of the Cabotage Vessels Financing Funds.
This is coming weeks after Oyetola directed the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency to commence the processes for the disbursement of the fund.
Recall that in April, Oyetola directed NIMASA to commence the process that would lead to the long-awaited disbursement of the CVFF.
Reacting to this directive, the National President of APFLON, Mr Frank Ogunojemite, in a statement on Wednesday, lauded the minister for the initiative, urging the minister to trade with caution in disbursing this fund to the beneficiaries.
“We, the above-named association, do hereby write to appreciate you for the novel policies and reforms that you have brought to bear on the marine and blue economy sector of the economy since you assumed office.
“The recent approval that you granted to NIMASA to commence the process of disbursing the long-awaited CVFF, which had defied every administration for more than a decade now, is a testament to your resolve to leave the industry better empowered and repositioned than you met it,” Ogunojemite said.
“However, much as we applaud you for this giant step, we equally call for caution in disbursing this fund to the beneficiaries. This is to avoid the experience of the past where funds such as this were mismanaged and the aim for which the funds were disbursed defeated,” he stressed.
He maintained there is a need to verify the shipowners before the disbursement.
“While we are not against the disbursement of this fund, we however, call for the verification of the shipowners who are to benefit from this fund to ensure that they are in business and viable enough to be entrusted with such an amount of money as it’s obvious some of them are out of business and some of them moribund,” APFLON boss said.
Ogunojemite advised that before the disbursement of the fund, a committee should be inaugurated to verify the credit ratings of the shipowners and ensure that they are not indebted to any financial institution both locally and abroad to, “avoid diverting the fund to loans repayment, thereby defeating the intent for which the fund was given in the first place.”
He said that the advice is necessary because some of the shipowners may have taken loans even from financial institutions abroad, adding that if this money is disbursed to them without guaranteeing that they are not servicing any loan anywhere, they may not make use of the money accordingly.
He emphasised that the government should be very critical about the credit ratings of everyone before disbursing this money.
“We must take every necessary step this time around to get it right so that Nigeria can build enough capacity in the area of shipbuilding and ownership and, in turn, gainfully engage our teeming maritime students and graduates in profitable ventures as well as reduce the freight cost for Nigerian-bound cargo.
“We also advise that even when this fund is finally disbursed, it should be closely monitored by the ministry to ensure that the fund is channeled to the aim for which it was disbursed in the first place, otherwise the rationale behind its disbursement will not be achieved,” Ogunojemite stated.
