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We’ll Ensure Monetary Incentives; FG Assures Shipowners

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We'll Ensure Monetary Incentives; FG Assures Shipowners

…Jamoh Urges Indigenous Shipowners to Take, Invest what’s available and battle for more!***

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has assured that Government would entrench a regime of financial and monetary incentives, in a bold bid to ensure that shipping thrives, in the country.

The NIMASA Director General, Dr. Bashir Jamoh stated this at the Shipowners’ Association of Nigeria (SOAN) End-of-Year Dinner and Gala night in Lagos, reiterating that the Federal Government has exempted local shipowners from paying import duty on brand new vessels.

L-R: Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, GCON; President Muhammadu Buhari GCFR and Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency NIMASA Dr. Bashir Jamoh OFR, during the President’s Birthday Celebration in Abuja.

He, however, expressed discomfort, that since the authorities granted an exemption to local shipowners from paying import duty on brand new vessels, no Nigerian Shipowner had seized the initiative, to utilise the window, by acquiring a brand new vessel.

Jamoh highlighted that the Federal Government has already mandated the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to provide forex to shipowners for ship acquisition at an official rate, rather than at the exorbitant black market rate, tasking SOAN and its counterparts, to take advantage of the incentives as well as the planned disbursement of the Cabotage Vessels Finance Fund (CVFF); so as to effectively increase Nigerian fleet and end foreign domination of the nation’s Coastal trade.

L-R: Vice President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, GCON; President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR; Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr Bashir Jamoh OFR and the Honourable Minister of Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika during the President’s Birthday Celebration in Abuja.

“The government has approved zero duty for imported new ships, with older ones attracting higher duty, while the second incentive was the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) monetary incentive that guarantees forex at official rate for ship acquisition, rather than at the exorbitant black market rate, and the recent approval for the disbursement of the cabotage vessel financing fund (CVFF),” Jamoh indicated, stressing that Government’s humongous investment in the Lekki Deep-sea Port would remain a mirage until Nigerian stakeholders acquired bottoms.

He pointed out that one of the first thing he learned, was that wherever shipping had thrived in any part of the world, Government had played a credible, observable pivotal role.

Consequently, he pledged on behalf of the authorities, to entrench a very conducive enabling environment, by ensuring that Shipowners are not denied the assistance they required, timely.

“So, I try as much as possible to weigh the kind of assistance the Nigerian government can offer the shipowners in the environment they operate,” he pointed out.

L-R: Former Governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; All Progressives Congress APC Presidential Candidate, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Director General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh OFR during the President’s Birthday Celebration in Abuja.

He was however aghast that Shipowners were bickering over the value of the CVFF, even to the point of threatening to sabotage its disbursement, stressing that he would advise that they accept it, invest what they have, while fighting for the restoration of whatever they believed, remained.

“It is high time we came together and ensure we benefit from what God has given us, and stop foreigners from taking over the coastal trade,” Jamoh stated, stressing that Government would ensure observable transparency.

Asking: “What do the shipowners really want?”, the NIMASA Boss said he believes that the indigenous Shipowners should be more interested in wrestling the batton of powers by subduing foreign domination, rather than pursuing actions that would further elongate, foreigners’ continuous milking of the country, simply because they have requisite ships.

“Anyone getting this fund will get it on merit, mutual understanding, and based on the agreement with the bank and NIMASA.

“It is subject to the auditor general’s audit, Federal Ministry of Transportation audit and external auditors’ audit, so it is open. Instead of fighting to see the balance, concentrate on seeing how we can disburse what is available, increase our fleet and benefit from this trade that is very precious.

“All the investments at Lekki deep seaport will be useless if ships do not go there. So, why don’t we put heads together, get the funds, acquire the ships and make our own ports lively instead of struggling to quarrel and fight!”, Jamoh further admonished.

A highly impressed SOAN Arrowhead, Dr. McGeorge Onyung on behalf of the association, actually scored Dr. Bashir Jamoh, a clean 100 percent, noting that the agency’s position was genuinely, food for thought.

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Super Eagles beat hosts Guinea Bissau, to reclaim Group ‘A’ leadership

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Super Eagles beat hosts Guinea Bissau, to reclaim Group 'A' leadership

The Super Eagles on Monday in Bissau beat hosts Guinea Bissau 1-0 to reclaim leadership of Group A in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) qualifiers.

Moses Simon’s penalty kick after 29 minutes gave the Nigerian senior men’s football team the needed win to move to nine points after four matches.

They have now upstaged from the apex position Guinea Bissau who toppled them on Friday in Abuja with a 1-0 win.

Guinea Bissau is with seven points from four matches and in second place, ahead of Sierra Leone who has five points from four matches.

Nigeria is expected to now face the Leone Stars of Sierra Leone in a Match Day 5 fixture.

 Details later  

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NGX: Investors Lose N622bn, as NCR Nigeria, Unity Bank lead Losers’ chart

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NGX: Investors Lose N622bn, as NCR Nigeria, Unity Bank lead Losers’ chart

The domestic stock market on Nigeria Exchange Ltd. (NGX) continued on a negative note as the market capitalisation on Monday dropped by N622 billion amid sustained profit-taking activities.

Accordingly, investors lost N622 billion in value as market capitalisation declined to  N29.281 trillion from N29.903 trillion recorded at the previous session.

The All-Share Index (ASI) fell by 1,141.76 points, representing a decline of 2.08 percent, to close at 53,750.77 points as against the 54,892.53 posted on Friday.

Consequently, the ASI’s year-to-date (YTD) return fell to 4.88 percent.

The downturn was impacted by losses recorded in large and medium capitalised stocks, amongst which are; Airtel Africa, Seplat Energy, MTN Nigeria Communications (MTNN), Nigerian Breweries and Lafarge Africa.

“We expect risk-on sentiments to be sustained in the equities markets even as the depressed interest rate environment will continue to favour the local bourse in line with our expectations for Q1, 2023.

“Taking positions in stocks with solid valuations and dividend yields ahead of the dividend-paying season remains the choice strategy.

“However, we see room for extended profit-taking activities,” Analysts at United Capital Plc said.

The market breadth was negative as 21 stocks lost relative to five gainers.

Courteville Business Solutions recorded the highest price gain of 6.67 percent to close at 48k per share.

NPF Microfinance Bank followed with a gain of 2.7 percent to close at N1.90 and AIICO Insurance up by 1.75 percent to close at 58k per share.

FBN Holdings (FBNH) rose by 0.92 percent to close at N11, while Zenith Bank gained 0. 2 percent to close at N25 per share.

Conversely, NCR Nigeria led the losers’ chart by 9.79 percent to close at N2.12, per share.

Unity Bank followed with a decline of 9.43 percent to close at 48k, while Prestige Assurance declined by 8.89 percent to close at 41k, per share.

SUNU Assurance declined 8.33 percent to close at 44k, while Multiverse Mining and Exploration and Airtel Africa shed 8.31 percent each to close at N2.98 and N1,420 respectively per share.

Also, the total volume traded decreased by 26.66 percent to 100.883 million units, valued at N4.342 billion and exchanged in 3,279 deals.

Transactions in the shares of Guaranty Trust Holding Company (GTCO) topped the activity chart with 12.836 million shares valued at N318.513 million.

Zenith Bank followed with 11.920 million shares worth N297.982 million, while United Bank for Africa (UBA) traded 10.038 million shares valued at N80.242 million.

MTNN traded 8.264 million shares valued at N1.927 billion, while FBNH transacted 7.719 million shares worth N84.577.

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MARITIME SAFETY: NIMASA, NCC Close Ranks On Submarine Cable Regulation In Nigeria

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MARITIME SAFETY: NIMASA, NCC Close Ranks On Submarine Cable Regulation In Nigeria

…Jamoh reiterates  commitment to Ease of Doing Business 

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) have agreed to work closely with relevant stakeholders as the Agency inches closer to developing a regulatory framework to provide operational guidelines for Submarine Cable and Pipeline Operators in Nigeria. 

Officials of both organs of Government in Lagos reached this agreement at a pre Audit meeting on submarine cable regulation.

The Director General of NIMASA Dr. Bashir Jamoh, OFR, who chaired the meeting, which also had the Director General of Bureau of Public Service Reforms (BPSR) Mr. Dasuki Arabi in attendance, noted that the Agency is committed to the Ease of doing Business while implementing International Conventions which Nigeria has ratified and domesticated. 

He noted that with Nigeria now a destination for global communication players, the time has come to prevent unregulated underwater cable laying, which might become hazardous to shipping.

According to him, “It is worthy to note that marine cable laying has been ongoing for over two decades in Nigerian waters. Our focus is to ensure safety of navigation of shipping in Nigerian waters with all these underwater cables being laid.

NIMASA is actually developing the guidelines to regulate submarine cable operators in line with the provisions of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, UNCLOS; which we have ratified and NIMASA is the Agency of Government in Nigeria responsible for its implementation. We do not just implement laws; we consult. Where the responsibility of an Agency stops, that is where the responsibilities of another Agency start. Collaboration is a key component of ease of doing business in the best interest of the country and we will work closely with the NCC to achieve this”.

On his part, the Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Professor Umar Garba Danbatta who was represented by the Director, Compliance Monitoring and Enforcement, Efosa Idehen noted that the stakeholders’ dialogue strategy adopted by NIMASA in developing the guidelines would ensure a win-win situation urging NIMASA management to include the Ministry of Justice, a request NIMASA DG immediately granted.

Also speaking at the meeting was the Director General of the Bureau of Public Service Reforms Mr. Dasuki Arabi, who commended NIMASA and NCC for adopting effective Inter-Agency collaboration to avert a potential challenge for the country in the future.

NIMASA had notified submarine and cable operators in Nigeria of a soon-to-be-implemented regulatory guideline for submarine cables and pipelines in Nigeria, in line with the provisions of UNCLOS. NIMASA and the NCC agreed to identify and resolve areas of likely regulatory overlaps, ensuring a regulatory framework based on consultation to engender the attainment of Nigeria’s digital economy transformation.

Officials of the Federal Ministry of Environment and representatives of Submarine Cable operators in Nigeria were also at the meeting.

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