$350m Cabotage fund will be disbursed before Buhari leaves office – NIMASA

The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Bashir Jamoh, has assured that the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) will be disbursed before the end of the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari.

It should be recalled that the minister of Transportation, Mr Muazu Jaji Sambo had earlier promised that the CVFF which now stands at about $350 million, will be disbursed to indigenous shipping companies to acquire new and bigger vessels.

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Some industry watchers had expressed scepticism about the feasibility of disbursing the funds before the end of President Buhari’s tenure.

But speaking at the NIMASA Day at the ongoing Abuja International Trade Fair, Jamoh said the process leading to the eventual disbursement of the funds has already started thus the actual disbursements will definitely happen.

Represented at the event by the Coordinator, Abuja Zonal Office of NIMASA, Mr Zailani Atrah, the DG said Nigerian shipping companies need to buy more vessels because ‘the more vessels you have as a country, the more you are rated high in international shipping.’

He declined to comment about the specific when the commencement of the fund’s disbursement will start saying he doesn’t have that information.

Also, he said NIMASA came to the trade fair to sensitise the public on the core mandates, especially as it concerns security, safety, and promotion of indigenous shipping and wreckage removal in Nigerian waters.