The launch of the Sierra Leone Ocean Shipping Company (SLOSCo) has renewed calls for Nigeria to accelerate plans to establish a national shipping line, with former Africa Shipowners Association president, Captain Ladi Olubowale, warning that the country risks losing billions of dollars in freight earnings to foreign operators.
Olubowale, Group Managing Director of Seamate Maritime Services Limited, said Sierra Leone’s decision to establish a national carrier offered Nigeria a compelling lesson in maritime development, strategic planning and political commitment.
He commended President Julius Maada Bio, the Sierra Leone government, Transport and Aviation Minister Ambassador Alhaji Fanday Turay, the Sierra Leone National Shipping Agency and members of parliament for creating the framework that led to SLOSCo.
“On behalf of colleagues across the African shipping community, I wish SLOSCo fair winds and a long, successful voyage,” Olubowale said during a media interaction in Lagos.
He described the launch as a significant step towards enabling African countries to exercise greater control over their international trade, rather than relying overwhelmingly on foreign-owned vessels to move their cargo.
“In my years in African shipping, including as president of the Africa Shipowners Association, I have watched many national shipping ventures launched with ceremony. Some became fleets. Most became footnotes.
“The difference was never the size of the country or the scale of the ribbon-cutting. It was strategy, discipline and the will to see a plan through to the end.
“That is why SLOSCo matters to Nigeria. And it is why it should matter to every African government that still treats shipping as someone else’s business,” he said.
According to Olubowale, Sierra Leone’s initiative followed a deliberate process of legislative reform, partnership and parliamentary approval rather than a mere political announcement.
He explained that Sierra Leone’s parliament passed the Sierra Leone National Shipping Agency Act in 2025, transforming the country’s former national shipping company, established in 1972, into an agency empowered to serve as the national carrier for international trade.
In August 2026, parliament ratified a joint venture agreement between the agency and Chinese firm Zhejiang Xiehai Group, paving the way for SLOSCo’s establishment and subsequent launch.
Although the new company must still prove its ability to attract cargo, operate efficiently and withstand commercial competition, Olubowale said Sierra Leone had demonstrated the importance of turning policy intentions into concrete action.
Africa’s Shipping Gap
Olubowale said the emergence of SLOSCo reflected a growing realisation across Africa that dependence on foreign shipping companies was draining valuable earnings from the continent.
He noted that several countries were exploring national shipping initiatives, while coastal states continued to invest in port infrastructure.
Citing the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), he said Africa’s share of the global merchant fleet remained disproportionately small despite the continent’s population and growing commercial potential.
Nigeria, he added, remained Africa’s largest ship-owning nation, but Nigerian-owned vessels accounted for only slightly more than half of one per cent of the world fleet by value.
“This is not just a question of national pride. It is a question of who controls Africa’s trade,” he said.
He warned that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) could struggle to deliver its full economic benefits if goods moving between African countries continued to depend heavily on foreign-owned vessels and shipping networks routed through Europe and Asia.
According to him, rising freight rates and global shipping disruptions leave African importers and consumers exposed to costs they have little power to influence.
Nigeria Losing Billions As Foreign Ships Dominate
The former industry leader recalled that Nigeria once operated a sizeable national fleet through the Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL), which had about 30 ocean-going vessels and helped train a generation of Nigerian seafarers.
However, the collapse of the national carrier left the country increasingly dependent on foreign shipping companies.
Olubowale said industry estimates placed Nigeria’s annual loss of freight earnings to foreign operators at between $8 billion and $9 billion.
“Every year, the cargo of Africa’s largest economy is carried by others, and the value goes with it,” he said.
He acknowledged the Federal Government’s renewed efforts to establish a national carrier, recalling that the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, announced significant progress in April, including interest from international port and logistics companies DP World and AD Ports Group.
However, he warned that similar promises had been made by previous administrations without producing a functioning national fleet.
“Until a vessel flies the flag of a Nigerian national carrier, the announcement remains an announcement,” he said.
Olubowale argued that Nigeria was not starting from scratch, pointing to its indigenous shipowners, whom UNCTAD counted as operating 291 vessels, the Lekki Deep Sea Port and improvements in maritime security under the Deep Blue Project.
He cited the minister’s statement that Nigeria had recorded no piracy incidents in its territorial waters for four years, adding that the country possessed many of the assets required to build a competitive shipping industry.
“Nigeria has the assets. What it has lacked is follow-through,” he said.
23 Years After, CVFF Still Struggles To Deliver
Olubowale identified the delayed disbursement of the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) as a major test of Nigeria’s commitment to indigenous shipping.
Established under the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act of 2003, the fund is financed through a two per cent surcharge on qualifying coastal shipping contracts and was designed to provide indigenous shipowners with affordable, long-term financing to acquire vessels.
He said the fund had remained largely inaccessible to its intended beneficiaries for more than two decades, despite repeated government assurances.
Olubowale put its estimated value at about $700 million as of last year, lamenting that Nigerian shipowners had waited for years for the resources intended to expand local vessel ownership.
He acknowledged recent steps by the Tinubu administration, including the opening of an application portal in January 2026, an initial $25 million allocation, an increase in participating lending banks from five to 12, and presidential approval for disbursement in September.
However, he said the implementation figures remained disappointing.
According to figures attributed to the minister in September, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) had received 92 applications, of which 20 were forwarded to participating banks, while only one had been reviewed and sent for final approval.
“Twenty-three years after the law was passed, Nigerian shipowners are still waiting for vessels the fund was meant to buy,” he said.
He warned that the failure to unlock the CVFF raised questions about Nigeria’s ability to operate a national shipping company capable of competing with global giants.
According to him, a successful national carrier requires a strong ecosystem of indigenous shipowners, trained Nigerian seafarers, ship-repair facilities and financial institutions with expertise in maritime lending.
Cadets Trapped In Certification Limbo
Olubowale also highlighted the human cost of Nigeria’s shortage of ocean-going vessels, particularly for young Nigerians trained under the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme.
He said many graduates of the programme struggled to obtain the sea time required to complete their professional certification because the country lacked sufficient vessels on which they could gain practical experience.
He cited the Ijaw Youth Council’s recent claim that more than 100 cadets sponsored over a decade ago were still waiting to complete their certification.
“Every vessel the CVFF finances, and every ship a national carrier puts to sea, is a classroom for these young officers
“Without the ships, the training is money spent on a promise,” he said.
He urged the Federal Government to establish binding deadlines for CVFF disbursement, publish the names of beneficiaries and the amounts approved, and disclose the vessels acquired with the funds.
Olubowale also called for the national carrier to be managed as a commercially disciplined, world-class company insulated from political interference.
“The NNSL did not fail because Nigerians could not run ships. It failed because politics was allowed to run the company,” he said.
Olubowale Proposes West African Shipping Alliance
Beyond establishing a Nigerian national carrier, Olubowale urged the government to explore a regional shipping alliance that would allow West African countries to pool resources, share vessels and strengthen intra-African trade.
He argued that individual countries would struggle to compete with multinational shipping giants such as Maersk and MSC, but a coordinated regional network could improve efficiency and expand African ownership of maritime trade.
Under his proposal, Nigeria’s cargo volumes could support commercially viable routes, while countries such as Sierra Leone could contribute new shipping ventures, strategic ports and international partnerships.
He identified potential connections between Lagos, Freetown, Accra, Abidjan and Dakar, with participating countries sharing vessels, schedules and feeder services.
“Here is where Nigeria could lead rather than follow. Instead of every coastal state building a small national carrier that struggles alone against global giants, West Africa should build a shipping alliance,” he said.
Olubowale urged Nigeria to open discussions with SLOSCo and other regional carriers on shared routes and vessel-sharing arrangements under the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
He also proposed a regional maritime financing facility, supported by development banks, to provide shipowners across West Africa with access to long-term financing, alongside shared training berths that would enable cadets from member countries to gain sea experience.
He said such cooperation could help address the financing and manpower constraints confronting the region’s shipping industry.
“No single West African country can match Maersk or MSC. Together, they can at least make sure African cargo on African routes pays African shipowners,” Olubowale said.
