Indigenous Shippers Face Tough Times

Femi Ayodele

For indigenous ship owners, tough times are here as debts, poor business environment, lack of access to funds and other unfavourable economic factors are forcing many out of business.

Isaac Jolapamo, who doubles as the Chairman, Indigenous Ship Owners’ Association of Nigeria, ISAN, and Chief Executive Officer, Morlap Shipping Company Limited, told P.M.NEWS Business World that many indigenous ship owners have been forced out of business while those who chose to remain in the business are weighed down by debt, hence, battling for survival. “In the last couple of years, more than 50 per cent of the indigenous ship owners are out of business and there are still more to go due to unfavourable business conditions.  We’ve been pauperised and not many of us can even come to the office. Those of us who summon the courage to come to office are hoping help would come someday. There is no serious sign to show government is serious about developing the sector. What you have now is a situation where people who have stolen money buy ship to keep the money and use such vessels for their deals. They are not real investors,” Jolapamo stated.

He frowned at the way indigenous shippers are being discriminated and deprived opportunities like their foreign counterparts whose dominance in the industry has left the Nigerian shippers grasping for contracts and other opportunities.

“Unfortunately, shipping business in Nigeria is controlled by foreigners Most contracts are usually sealed in London, Paris or Singapore. This is so because Nigerian system allows it.  Recently, the Chinese government disclosed that the business between Nigeria and China now runs to billions of naira. 10 per cent of that money goes to freight- movement of cargoes and that is a capital flight of billions of naira to China. If you make a case from this, you will be  seen as an activist. We are not activists but investors’’.

Quite a lot of indigenous shippers are in debt running to billions of naira while those who muster the courage to invest are yet to recoup the investment.

“I owe banks billions of naira and I have nothing to show for it. I knew about shipping in my 20s, I did star shipping in my 30s and now I’m close to 70 and I haven’t made headway. I was at the IMO, making a point and a former Secretary General who I won’t like to mention his name introduced me as an activist and not as the chair man for indigenous ship owners. And he said that is what my people call me. This is the situation” Jolapamo lamented.

On the ordeal of indigenous ship owners, Jolapamo said the agencies responsible for the implementation of the provisions of the local and the Cabotage have failed in this regard as no indigenous ship owners has benefited from the CVVF since 11 years it was instituted. “To me, a law is an act. It is when you want a law to work that it would work. They don’t want it to work. We have witnessed a sharp increase in the number of foreign vessels/ players while those of the indigenous shippers are fast  declining. They’ve been talking about Cabotage Vessels Financing Fund, CVFF, for years, has anything been done? Now, they’ve shortlisted and I’m aware of two indigenous shippers that will benefit. It is being implied that they are also looking at their political parties/ affiliations. Should this be an issue? To me, getting contracts is more paramount than CVFF. We might not even need the CVFF to get money.

“If you get a contract to support what you are doing, sourcing for money won’t be an issue. If you go ahead to acquire a ship and there is no contract for the ship to be put in use, it starts depleting and that is the reason our investment is in ruin,’’ he explains.

Jolapamo is concerned that most financiers and investors do underestimate the resources and the capacity of the Nigerian shippers. This development, according to him, has deprived indigenous shippers good contracts/jobs as preference is being given to their foreign counterparts. He maintained that the indigenous shippers can do better businesses if given the opportunities like their foreign players.