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Adewale Sanyaolu, Houston,Texas
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has disclosed plans by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and the Ministry of Finance to create a special tariff for vessel acquisition.
Director General of NIMASA, Mr. Dakuku Peterside, stated this on the sidelines of the ongoing Oil Technology Conference (OTC) in Houston, Texas, USA.
Peterside, said the high cost of vessel acquisition was gradually eroding the capacity of a lot of indigenous players in the maritime sector, adding that NIMASA was going all out to reverse the trend.
He explained that the agency was already in talk with the NCS and the Finance Ministry to ensure that a special tariff window was created for vessel acquisition as part of efforts to build cap acity and create jobs for Nigerians in the maritime sector.
He expressed worry at thye current situation where foreign vessels pay a paltry one percent for temporary import permit to bring vessels into the country to do their business and go away, leaving their indigenous counterparts who are not operating the vessel on temporary basis to pay 13 per cent which is a disincentive to local operators.
‘‘You know the maritime sector is a capital intensive one coupled with the fact that the cost of accessing fund is equally high. But in order to encourage our indigenous players to compete favorably with their foreign counterparts, we must ensure that we crash the cost of doing business. And that is why we are engaging the Customs and the Finance Ministry on a special tariff for vessel acquisition.’’
Peterside also disclosed that talks are at an advanced stage by NIMASA and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to arrange a single digit interest rate for vessel acquisition. The acquisition of the vessel at single digit interest rate, according to the DG would go a long way in increasing the number of vessels owned and operated by indigenous operators.
On Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF), Dakuku said NIMASA is currently reviewing the guidelines for accessing the CVFF. The CVFF is a two-per cent deduction backed by law, for every carriage contract, from shipping operators.
‘‘We are also supporting our local players in other areas. Ultimately, we want to grow the Nigerian tonnage and encourage more Nigerians to own vessels and be active in the industry. We want more persons to be skilled and employable in the industry. I think the bigger picture is to secure the funds so that more Nigerians can be able to access the fund which has swelled to over $150 million. This money should be able to help us crash the cost of accessing funds in acquisition of assets and building infrastructure for the maritime industry.’’
