Matthew Otoijagha
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Bank of Industry (BOI) are collaborating for a single digit interest loan facility for Nigerian ship owners.
This development came to the fore recently when the Managing Director of BOI, Olukayode Pitan, paid a courtesy visit to NIMASA headquarters in Lagos.
NIMASA Director-General, Dakuku Peterside, who received the BOI delegation, said, “We have continuously sought partnerships that would grow our industry. We know that maritime asset financing is one of the major challenges of this industry and we are tackling it head-on. In no distant future our people would be able to reap the benefits of our strategy.”
Also speaking during the visit, Pitan said BOI was ready to partner with NIMASA because the viability of the maritime sector would rub off on Nigerians.
“We are proposing a partnership with NIMASA on vessel financing. We already have a similar partnership with NCDMB that is currently running at a single digit of 8%, with little or zero risk for NCDMB since the fund invested by NCDMB is guaranteed by BOI. This model, we think, can also benefit NIMASA and the entire maritime sector,” he said.
At the end of the meeting, NIMASA and BOI agreed, among other things, to work out modalities on financing the acquisition of vessels at a single digit interest rate; provision of guarantee for the funds that NIMASA will entrust to BOI; and management of the portfolio to guarantee effectiveness.