Why The SASBF Failed, And The Recovery Philosophy This Time Is Different

In our last issue, we set out what the CVFF actually is: a loan, not a grant, disbursed through a panel of twelve Primary Lending Institutions, and structured to revolve rather than to be drawn down once. This issue is about why the CVFF has been structured the way it has, and the answer starts with a fund Nigeria has already tried once before.

Long before the CVFF, there was the Ship Acquisition and Ship Building Fund. It was meant to do exactly what the CVFF is meant to do now: grow the Nigerian shipping industry through stronger indigenous shipownership. Instead, it became a cautionary tale, and the reason is worth considering, because it is entirely avoidable.

An arrested vessel does not sit still and wait to be sold. It deteriorates, loses class, stops earning, and accumulates costs that rank ahead of the very lender trying to recover its money.