Nigeria has taken a significant step toward strengthening its maritime sector with the official launch of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) application portal in Lagos. The move is widely seen as a long-overdue reform in the country’s coastal and inland shipping industry.

The launch was attended by senior government officials, maritime industry leaders, legislators and sector stakeholders. It marks the first practical attempt in over two decades to operationalise a fund designed to empower indigenous shipowners and deepen Nigeria’s participation in its own maritime trade.

What Is the CVFF?

The Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) was established under the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act of 2003. The Act was created to reserve Nigeria’s coastal and inland waterways trade for Nigerian-owned, Nigerian-crewed, Nigerian-built or Nigerian-flagged vessels.

To support this objective, the CVFF was designed as a financing mechanism, funded through levies on cabotage contracts. It aims to provide affordable, long-term credit to indigenous shipowners for vessel acquisition and fleet expansion.

However, for more than 20 years, the fund remained largely inaccessible due to administrative bottlenecks. The lack of transparency and the absence of a credible disbursement framework have also left Nigerian operators unable to compete with foreign-flagged vessels that dominate domestic shipping routes.

Declaring the CVFF application portal open, the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy said the initiative is aimed at changing the narrative of Nigeria’s limited participation in its own coastal and inland trade.

According to the minister, the CVFF is now structured as a strategic development instrument that facilitates access to competitive vessel financing for indigenous operators. The new framework is designed to meet national expectations while adhering to international best practices. This framework was developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other stakeholders.

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has established a dedicated capital-sector unit. It has also partnered with vetted primary lending institutions to professionally evaluate applications, monitor compliance and administer funding with discipline, transparency and accountability.

Benefits of the CVFF for Nigeria

The CVFF is expected to enable Nigerian shipowners to acquire modern vessels, reducing the country’s heavy reliance on foreign-flagged ships for domestic trade. This strengthens national maritime capacity and sovereignty.

By reducing capital flight associated with hiring foreign vessels, more value is retained within the domestic economy, boosting government revenues and local business growth.

A stronger indigenous fleet will create direct employment opportunities for Nigerian seafarers. Additionally, it create indirect jobs across the maritime value chain, including shipbuilding, ship repair, marine insurance and port services.

The CVFF aligns with Nigeria’s broader blue economy strategy, supporting sustainable use of ocean and inland water resources as a driver of economic diversification.

With legislative oversight and structured disbursement through regulated financial institutions, the new CVFF framework aims to address past concerns about mismanagement and corruption.

For Nigeria’s regional and global trade partners, a functional CVFF also carries clear advantages. A stronger Nigerian fleet improves the efficiency and reliability of coastal shipping, reducing delays and logistics costs.

More so, better inland and coastal connectivity supports smoother movement of goods across West Africa and beyond can be expected.