A former director of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, known as NIMASA, has spoken out about the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund, commonly called the CVFF, clarifying that the fund is held in naira, not in US dollars.
The clarification comes at a time when Nigerian shipowners and maritime stakeholders have long debated the accessibility and management of the fund, which was established to help local operators acquire vessels and compete in Nigeria's coastal shipping trade.
The source material here is limited, so we will not speculate beyond what has been confirmed. What this disclosure does open up, though, is a bigger conversation about how Nigeria manages the resources meant to grow its homegrown maritime industry and whether naira-denominated funding is enough to meet the dollar-priced realities of buying and maintaining vessels.
Originally published by BusinessDay.