Nigeria: Asset Finance

Nigeria's Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund was designed to avoid the failures of its predecessor, the Ship Acquisition and Ship Building Fund, which collapsed in the 1990s due to widespread defaults and poor enforcement practices. This briefing examines why vessel arrest, though legally available, should be treated as a last resort rather than a first response when CVFF loans enter distress, and how alternative recovery mechanisms can preserve the fund's revolving capital structure.

A vessel under arrest is no longer earning, and every day it sits idle, it loses value. Ironically, vessel arrest, while intended to secure a lender’s recovery, can sometimes destroy the very asset from which that recovery depends.

Nigeria's maritime economy faces a critical challenge in ship financing, where decades of failed vessel loans have left banks wary and shipowners struggling. With the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund preparing for activation, understanding why previous maritime financing interventions collapsed and how to structure bankable transactions has become essential for both lenders and indigenous operators seeking to build a competitive fleet.