Business
NIMASA Gets $20m To Revive National Unity Line
The National Unity Line (NUL), a former government -owned shipping firm was acquired about four years ago by a private shipping company. The new owner later dropped the acquisition idea and asked for a refund of its investment when the government failed to assist the firm to transform into a national career status. But the government is now considering the resuscitation of the company.
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) may soon resuscitate the defunct National Unity Line following the inability of the Bureau of Public Enterprises to sell off the moribund shipping firm floated many years ago by the agency to replace the Nigerian National Shipping Line, which was liquidated 15 years ago.
The Nigerian Unity Line was first sold about four years ago to Sea-force Shipping Company, which initially paid the sum of $20 million only for the same company to ask for the refund of the deposit about a year later.
Sources said the company took the action when it was becoming obvious that it might not be possible for it to act as a national carrier as expected. It was thought that the government would assist the then new owner of the NUL to lift crude oil across the seas on behalf of the Federal Government.
The government under the headship of then President Olusegun Obasanjo actually gave it the assurance that it would be nurtured to become a national carrier to lift crude oil but the arrangement could not be sustained because of the end of tenure of the former president.
The Director-General, Mr. Temisan Omatseye, dropped the hint at a media parley few days ago in Lagos. He explained that five ships would be acquired for shipping business, adding one tanker, two liners and three bulk ships would be acquired by the agency in collaboration with the private sector.
Omatseye said there has been significant increase of funds for the Cabotage Vessel Financing Fund (CVFF) from less than $7 million in July 2009 to over $55 million in June 2010, representing 685 per cent increase.
According to him: “Arrangements for the administration of the CVFF have reached advanced stage and the first batch of disbursement would be concluded shortly through the primary lending institution such as Diamond Bank, Skye Bank, Fidelity Bank and Equitorial Bank.
“We have recorded 240 cabotage vessels in the cabotage special registry as against 45 vessels when we assumed office. This represent 450 per cent increase.”
Omatseye stressed that NIMASA would provide the policy and legal framework for the establishment of ship demolition and recycling facilities in the country. He said the project had attracted tremendous favourable interest from investors.
He hinted that plans were on by the agency to establish more maritime academies to address the current challenge of acute shortage of qualified seafarers.
Omatseye also noted that the agency had facilitated matchmaking between indigenous shipping companies and their foreign counterparts in Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines and United States of America.
He also explained that management was planning to implement public sector cargo support scheme in line with the provision of section 36 of NIMASA Act and the Nigerian Content Development Policy objective.
In addition, he said that NIMASA had complied with the directives of the ministerial committee on payment of seamen gratuity by paying all affected people.
He mentioned that new condition of service for Nigerian seafarers on board fishing and coastal vessels in line with the standards of the National Joint Industrial Council (NJIC).
Cornerstone of Financial Services
A survey of more than 1 000 global finance leaders undertaken by digital payment network Ripple shows that 72% of respondents believe they need to offer a digital asset solution to remain competitive.
According to Ripple, leaders from the banking, fintech, corporate and asset management sector have made it clear that the “digital asset revolution is happening now”.
“Digital assets are quickly becoming a cornerstone of financial services, underpinned by progressive regulation, growing interest from Tier-1 banks, a steady consumer shift from banks to fintech providers, and booming stablecoin adoption,” Ripple says.
The survey was conducted in early 2026 and the findings released in March.
Stablecoin Boon or Bane?
Ripple has experienced significant success in the stablecoin sector since launching its Ripple USD (RLUSD) stablecoin in 2024.
With a market cap of $1.56 billion, it is considered a major regulated player in the market.
No doubt the platform was pleased to learn through its own survey that financial leaders were most bullish about stablecoins.
Roughly three-quarters of respondents believed they could boost cash-flow efficiency and unlock trapped working capital.
Ripple noted that finance leaders were thinking about stablecoins as more than “just a new way to execute payments”; instead, they viewed them as effective tools for treasury management.
In March 2026, Ripple began testing a new trade finance model built around RLUSD in a bid to increase the speed of cross-border payments.
The pilot initiative, developed alongside supply chain finance company Unloq [https://unloq.com], is running on the XRP Ledger inside a testing framework developed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore.
The Asian city-state is one of the platform’s biggest growth markets.
The idea behind the project is to see whether stablecoin-based settlement can streamline trade finance, too often hampered by reliance on intermediaries and slow reconciliation.
The only potential drawback is that if the initiative takes off, the Ripple to USD price could be negatively affected.
Ripple has always championed its native XRP token as a bridge asset, the “middleman” in the process of a financial institution turning dollars in the US into pounds in the UK, for example.
Ripple converts dollars into XRP and then back into pounds.
If RLUSD can do exactly the same thing, questions will be asked about XRP’s relevance.
That is a bridge Ripple will have to cross if it gets to that point.
Tokenisation Partners
Another interesting finding from Ripple’s survey is that most banks and asset managers are seeking tokenisation partners to help execute their strategies.
Some 89% of respondents said digital asset storage and custody were top priority. “Token servicing/lifecycle management also ranks highly for banks at 82%, while asset managers place greater emphasis on primary distribution at 80%,” Ripple found.
The survey also revealed that just more than half of fintechs and financial institutions want an infrastructure provider that can offer a “one-stop-shop solution”. This rose to 71% among corporate financial leaders.
Ripple attributes this to institutions and firms wanting uncomplicated, cohesive systems.
Infrastructure Rules
In its final analysis, Ripple says companies across the board are looking for partners and solutions that are “secure, compliant, battle-tested and that enable growth and execution”.
“The message is clear: infrastructure decisions made today will shape competitive positioning tomorrow.”
No surprise that this is precisely where Ripple is placing much of its focus.