Maritime Sector Loses $500m Annually to Shipbroking
Maritime stakeholders have decried the country’s continued loss of over $500m annually due to the absence of a structured and regulated shipbroking system.
The stakeholders stated this in a recent chat with journalists in Lagos, where Capt. Tami Adu explained that the lack of compliance monitoring and oversight in vessel chartering is causing significant revenue losses to the government.
According to him, shipbrokers not only facilitate deals between cargo owners and vessel owners but also ensure technical compliance, vessel vetting, and market intelligence, all of which are critical to safe and profitable maritime operations.
He lamented that the cabotage tax, which is a statutory two per cent charge on every vessel contract, is largely unmonitored due to the informal nature of vessel chartering in Nigeria.
“If the government handed this process to trained shipbrokers, we would ensure every transaction is documented and remitted properly. Right now, what we are losing annually exceeds $500m,” he said.
Adu explained that while the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, headquartered in London, provides global certification and technical capacity for professionals across the world, many Nigerian operators either ignore or bypass the standards, leading to poor outcomes in contract execution and vessel performance.
Also speaking, the Chairman of the Nigeria Chapter of ICS, Mr Sesan Ajayi, noted that there are fewer than 40 certified shipbrokers in Nigeria, while the market is flooded with unqualified individuals engaging in shipbroking activities without professional training.
He warned that this poses risks to trade reliability and undermines Nigeria’s potential to benefit from frameworks such as the African Continental Free Trade Area.
Ajayi stressed that effective shipbroking is key to boosting intra-African trade, reducing logistics costs, and closing the infrastructure gap in the maritime value chain.
He revealed that Nigeria’s logistics cost is 23 per cent of the gross domestic product, nearly double the global average of 12 per cent, largely due to inefficiencies in shipping and trade logistics gaps that shipbrokers are professionally trained to close.
Ajayi, while applauding the Ministry of Marine and Blue Economy and the newly launched national policy, emphasised that the policy must be followed through with skilled manpower development and strict regulatory enforcement.
“Shipbroking is still green in Nigeria. But if done right, it can revolutionise how cargo moves, how vessels are sourced, and how contracts are structured locally,” he said.
A senior member of the ICS, Mr Abdulrasak Arije, described the institute as the gold standard for maritime professionalism and a neutral voice in policy discussions.
He emphasised the institute’s role in training and certifying shipbrokers, chartering agents, vessel sales experts, and cargo specialists, all with global best practices.
“At ICS, we uphold the gold standard for maritime professionalism. We train and certify shipbrokers, chartering agents, vessel sales experts, and cargo specialists to operate ethically and efficiently across global markets. In West Africa, our goal is to support the government and private operators by building local capacity that meets international standards. A strong maritime policy must be matched with a skilled workforce, and that’s what ICS provides. We are also a neutral, credible voice in policy dialogue and compliance monitoring,” he said.
The ICS member also weighed in on the controversial Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund, which has remained dormant for nearly two decades despite its objective of empowering Nigerian shipowners.
“CVFF was designed to empower Nigerian shipowners to compete within our coastal waters. Unfortunately, it’s remained underutilised for nearly 20 years. The issues range from bureaucratic red tape to trust deficits between regulators and beneficiaries,” he said.
With the maritime industry’s contribution to GDP currently below one per cent, stakeholders say proper integration of shipbroking into Nigeria’s maritime policy, backed by enforcement, will not only enhance revenue generation but also strengthen trade facilitation, vessel integrity, and investor confidence.