The launch of the Sierra Leone Ocean Shipping Company (SLOSCo) has reignited debate over Nigeria’s failure to establish a viable national shipping line, with former President of the Africa Shipowners Association (ASA), Captain Ladi Olubowale, warning that the country risks surrendering more of its maritime trade to foreign operators.
Olubowale said Sierra Leone’s decision to establish a national carrier should serve as a wake-up call for Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, which he said possesses the cargo volumes, maritime infrastructure and indigenous shipowners needed to build a competitive shipping industry but has struggled to translate these advantages into a functioning national carrier.
He spoke during a media interaction in Lagos while assessing the implications of SLOSCo, officially launched by Sierra Leone’s President, Julius Maada Bio, for Nigeria and the wider West African maritime industry.
Describing the development as a landmark achievement, Olubowale, who is also Group Managing Director of Seamate Maritime Services Limited, congratulated Bio, the Sierra Leone government, Transport and Aviation Minister Ambassador Alhaji Fanday Turay, the National Shipping Agency and lawmakers who approved the initiative.
He said: “They have shown vision and resolve, and they have given the whole of West Africa reason for optimism.”
But beyond the ceremony surrounding SLOSCo, Olubowale said the real lesson for Nigeria lies in the deliberate process through which Sierra Leone established its new shipping company.
According to him, Sierra Leone’s National Shipping Agency Act was passed in 2025, transforming the country’s former national shipping company, established in 1972, into an agency empowered to act as a national carrier for international trade.
In August 2026, the country’s 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.
Olubowale said the sequence of legislation, partnership, parliamentary approval and implementation demonstrated the importance of sustained commitment to maritime development.
“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,” he said.
He added: “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.”
Nigeria’s Billions Going Abroad
Olubowale said the consequences of Nigeria’s dependence on foreign shipping companies went beyond national pride, arguing that the country was losing substantial freight earnings because foreign operators carried much of its international trade.
He cited industry estimates putting Nigeria’s annual loss in freight earnings to foreign shipping companies at between $8 billion and $9 billion.
“The cost of that collapse has been enormous. Every year, the cargo of Africa’s largest economy is carried by others, and the value goes with it,” he said.
Nigeria once operated the Nigerian National Shipping Line (NNSL), which had about 30 ocean-going vessels and helped train a generation of Nigerian seafarers. Its collapse, Olubowale argued, left a major gap in the country’s maritime capacity.
He said the absence of a viable national carrier had become increasingly significant as African economies pursued greater trade integration under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
According to him, the continent cannot fully benefit from expanding intra-African trade if goods moving between African countries continue to depend heavily on foreign-owned vessels and shipping networks routed through overseas hubs.
Olubowale warned that fluctuations in international freight rates could expose African importers and consumers to costs over which they exercise little control.
He noted that Africa accounts for a substantial share of the world’s population but remains poorly represented in global merchant shipping, leaving much of its trade dependent on foreign operators.
Tinubu’s National Carrier Plan Under Scrutiny
The former ASA president acknowledged that the Federal Government had renewed efforts to establish a Nigerian national shipping line.
He recalled that the Minister of Marine and Blue Economy, Adegboyega Oyetola, announced in April 2026 that significant progress had been made towards reviving a national carrier, with interest reportedly expressed by international maritime operators DP World and AD Ports Group.
However, Olubowale said Nigerians needed to see tangible results rather than repeated announcements.
“To be fair, the Federal Government is moving. These are serious partners, and the ambition is welcome. But Nigerians have heard similar promises before, from several administrations.
“Until a vessel flies the flag of a Nigerian national carrier, the announcement remains an announcement,” he said.
He argued that Nigeria was not starting from scratch, pointing to its indigenous shipowners, the Lekki Deep Sea Port and investments in maritime security.
Olubowale cited figures attributed to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which he said counted 291 Nigerian-owned vessels, describing the country as Africa’s largest ship-owning nation.
He also referenced the Deep Blue Project and the minister’s claim that Nigeria had recorded no piracy incidents in its territorial waters for four years.
“Nigeria has the assets. What it has lacked is follow-through,” he said.
23 Years After, Shipowners Still Await CVFF
Olubowale identified the prolonged delay in disbursing the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) as a major test of the government’s commitment to developing indigenous shipping capacity.
Established under the Coastal and Inland Shipping (Cabotage) Act of 2003, the fund was designed to provide Nigerian shipowners with access to low-interest, long-term financing for vessel acquisition.
It is financed through a two per cent surcharge on qualifying contracts in Nigeria’s coastal trade.
Olubowale said the fund had remained largely inaccessible to its intended beneficiaries for more than two decades, despite successive administrations promising to release the money.
He put the fund’s estimated value at about $700 million as of 2025, while acknowledging that the current administration had taken steps towards disbursement.
According to him, an application portal opened in January 2026, an initial $25 million was made available, and the number of participating lending banks increased from five to 12.
He also said President Bola Tinubu approved disbursement in September 2026.
However, figures disclosed by the minister in September showed that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) had received 92 applications, of which 20 had been forwarded to participating banks, while only one had been reviewed and sent for final approval.
For Olubowale, the slow progress raises questions about the country’s ability to establish and sustain a national carrier.
“If Nigerians want to know whether a new national carrier will succeed, they should look at the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund,” he said.
He argued that a national shipping line could not thrive without a strong ecosystem of indigenous shipowners, trained Nigerian seafarers, local ship repair facilities and financial institutions capable of supporting maritime investment.
“The CVFF was designed to build exactly that base. If Nigeria cannot move money it already has into the hands of its own shipowners, it is fair to ask how it will run a national carrier that must compete with the world’s largest shipping companies,” he said.
Cadets Trained, But No Ships To Sail
Olubowale also highlighted the human cost of Nigeria’s limited ocean-going fleet, warning that the country’s investment in maritime training risked being undermined by a shortage of vessels on which cadets could acquire the sea time required for professional certification.
He said thousands of young Nigerians had received training in nautical science and marine engineering under the Nigerian Seafarers Development Programme, but many continued to face difficulties completing their certification because of limited access to sea-going vessels.
He cited a recent statement by the Ijaw Youth Council alleging that more than 100 cadets sponsored over a decade ago were still awaiting completion of 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 government to treat shipping as a strategic national asset rather than merely another commercial venture, insisting that clear implementation deadlines and greater transparency were essential.
Among his recommendations, he called on NIMASA to publish every approved CVFF beneficiary, the amount disbursed and the vessels acquired with the funds.
He also urged the government to ensure that the proposed national carrier was operated according to sound commercial principles and protected 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 proposed a regional shipping alliance that would enable West African countries to pool resources, share vessels and operate coordinated shipping services along the coast.
He argued that individual countries would struggle to compete against global shipping giants such as Maersk and MSC if they attempted to build small national fleets without regional cooperation.
He said Nigeria’s cargo volumes could support commercially viable routes, while countries such as Sierra Leone could contribute new shipping initiatives, strategic ports and partnerships.
Olubowale identified Freetown’s natural harbour as a potential asset in a regional network linking Lagos, Freetown, Accra, Abidjan and Dakar.
“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.
He urged Nigeria to open discussions with SLOSCo and other regional operators on shared routes and vessel-sharing agreements under the auspices of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
He also proposed a regional maritime financing facility, potentially backed by development banks, to help shipowners across West Africa acquire vessels under transparent lending arrangements.
In addition, he called for shared training berths that would allow vessels operated under the alliance to carry cadets from participating countries, helping to address the shortage of practical training opportunities for aspiring seafarers.
“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.
He maintained that Sierra Leone’s move had created an opportunity for Nigeria to rethink its maritime strategy, accelerate the release of funds meant for indigenous shipowners and turn years of national-carrier promises into an operational reality.
