Nigerian indigenous shipowners have challenged major cargo owners, particularly the Dangote Group, to put their enormous cargo volumes behind the development of a Nigerian-owned commercial fleet, arguing that long-term shipping contracts could unlock billions of naira in vessel financing and keep freight earnings within the Nigerian economy.
The shipowners said the country could not build a sustainable indigenous shipping industry by focusing solely on vessel ownership without first addressing the commercial conditions required to make vessel acquisition bankable.
Captain Ladi Olubowale, former President of the Nigerian chapter of the African Shipowners Association (ASA) and Group Managing Director/CEO of Seamate Maritime Integrated Services Limited, made the case at a Public-Private Dialogue with CEOs organised by the Nigerian Chamber of Shipping in Lagos.
The dialogue, themed “Unlocking Efficiency in the Marine and Blue Economy Value Chain,” brought together maritime industry stakeholders, including cargo owners, terminal operators, policymakers and industry executives, with Dangote Group’s Group Vice President, Edwin Devakumar, participating as the guest CEO.
Olubowale argued that the key to developing Nigeria’s fleet was to connect cargo to financing, insisting that predictable cargo contracts could provide the commercial foundation for Nigerian shipowners to acquire vessels.
“Shipping follows cargo. Give credible Nigerian shipowners long-term Contracts of Affreightment, and those contracts become the commercial foundation upon which vessels can be financed, acquired and deployed,” he said.
According to him, shipping is a capital-intensive private-sector business, making it difficult for Nigerian operators to acquire large vessels without predictable cargo volumes and bankable employment contracts.
He therefore proposed a reversal of the conventional approach of waiting for indigenous operators to acquire vessels before granting them cargo.
Instead, he advocated securing the cargo first, converting it into credible long-term Contracts of Affreightment (CoAs), using the contracts to structure financing and enabling qualified Nigerian operators to acquire vessels against predictable future revenues.
Dangote’s Cargo Base Can Unlock Nigerian Fleet
Olubowale said Dangote Group, with its expanding refinery, cement, fertilizer and other industrial operations, was strategically positioned to become a catalyst for indigenous fleet development.
He called on the conglomerate to consider allocating portions of its maritime cargo requirements to qualified Nigerian shipping companies through structured multi-year CoAs.
Such arrangements, he explained, would give indigenous shipowners the opportunity to approach commercial banks, development finance institutions, export credit agencies, leasing companies and international vessel financiers with identifiable cargo volumes, predictable revenues and long-term contracts.
“Cargo creates trade, trade supports financing, and predictable cargo contracts enable shipowners to acquire vessels and build sustainable fleets,” the shipowner said.
He argued that the model could transform cargo commitments into actual maritime assets and technical capacity rather than allowing Nigeria’s cargo-generated freight earnings to continue flowing predominantly to foreign-controlled vessels.
Olubowale also drew attention to the continued deployment of foreign-controlled vessels to transport Nigerian crude and petroleum products, noting that large tankers, including Suezmax vessels, regularly call at crude terminals such as Forcados, Bonny and Escravos.
He said this raised a fundamental policy question for Nigeria: how can the movement of Nigerian cargo be progressively converted into Nigerian-owned maritime assets, jobs, technical expertise, financing opportunities and long-term economic value?
According to him, the answer was not protectionism without capacity, but deliberate creation of commercially competitive Nigerian shipping companies.
“There is no structural reason why Nigerian companies should not ultimately own and operate Suezmax tankers and other large commercial vessels. But fleet development must be connected to cargo, finance, technical capability and long-term employment,” Olubowale said.
‘Cargo, Contract, Finance And Vessel’
The maritime expert proposed a four-pillar model for indigenous fleet development built around Cargo, Contract, Finance and Vessel.
Under the model, cargo owners would provide predictable cargo volumes, while long-term CoAs would convert those volumes into bankable commercial contracts. Financial institutions would then finance viable vessel acquisitions, with Nigerian shipowners providing the vessels, technical management, employment and maritime services needed to execute the trade.
Olubowale said the approach could complement existing government interventions such as the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund rather than making fleet development entirely dependent on government-backed financing.
He stressed that government still had a critical role to play, but primarily as an enabler, regulator and facilitator, while the commercial engine of the maritime industry should remain firmly in the private sector.
“Nigeria’s ambition to build a globally competitive marine and blue economy will require deeper collaboration between cargo owners, indigenous shipowners, banks, institutional investors, ports, regulators and government,” he said.
He called for predictable regulation, competitive ports, access to finance, local-capacity development and transparent commercial frameworks, while urging cargo owners to provide commercial opportunities and financial institutions to fund viable projects.
“Competent private-sector operators should invest, acquire assets and deliver the services,” Olubowale added, describing the approach as private-sector-led, regulator-enabled and development-focused maritime growth.
He also urged policymakers, cargo owners, shipowners, terminal operators and financiers to sustain dialogue across the maritime value chain, arguing that Nigeria’s shipping ambitions could not be achieved through isolated interventions.
Olubowale said the opportunity extended beyond Dangote, noting that Nigeria’s huge volumes of petroleum products, cement, fertilizer, agricultural commodities and industrial goods could provide the cargo base required to develop a commercially sustainable indigenous shipping industry.
With intra-African trade expected to expand under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), he said maritime transportation would become increasingly important to Nigeria’s trade ambitions.
“The central question is therefore not simply whether Nigeria can own more ships. It is whether the country can deliberately use its enormous cargo base to create a commercially sustainable indigenous shipping industry,” he said.
He added that long-term cargo commitments could help Nigerian operators build fleets, create seafaring and shore-based employment, retain freight earnings within the economy, deepen maritime technical capacity and position Nigerian shipping companies to compete more effectively in intra-African trade.
“Dangote and other major Nigerian cargo owners can therefore play a role extending beyond industrial production. Through structured partnerships with credible indigenous operators, they can help create the commercial foundation for the next generation of Nigerian shipping companies,” Olubowale said.
He concluded with a call for the industry to shift from government-dependent fleet development to a commercially driven model.
“The maritime industry must ultimately be driven by the private sector. Government should create the enabling environment, while cargo owners, financiers and indigenous operators build the commercial ecosystem. If we connect Nigerian cargo to Nigerian maritime capacity, we will not merely acquire ships—we will build a sustainable shipping industry.”
