Cabotage a viable option for Africa?

Questions have been raised
about the viability of cabotage
or coastal shipping as a solution to
address the numerous challenges
faced at African ports.
While cabotage has had an
impact in Nigeria where local
participation in the shipping
industry has been encouraged,
there are still big questions around
its cost-efficiency.
During a panel discussion at the
recent Breakbulk Africa conference
in Johannesburg, Oritsematosan
Edodo-Emore, managing partner
at Edodo, Thorpe and Associates
in Nigeria, said major inroads had
been made in the country since the
implementation of cabotage laws.
“It is not likely that foreign
ship owners will invest in
Nigeria – and thanks to cabotage
local participation has been
encouraged,” she said. “It is
commonly understood in Nigeria
that local companies are not able
to contribute tankers and the like
and therefore the cabotage laws
ensure there are exemptions in
place, but in terms of support
vessels and the like for the oil and
gas industry we are seeing more
and more Nigerian companies
becoming involved.”
Edodo-Emore said cabotage as
a policy decision offered a sound
solution to several challenges faced
by the shipping community in
Africa.
“In Nigeria we have a mixed
cabotage regime that is not as
strict as one would find in the
US for example. Encouraging
more Nigerian-owned vessels is
important and it does just that.”