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Ethiopian Airlines has opened a new cargo warehouse, the largest in Africa, to service four continents in the world with an eye to target cargo exports from Nigeria.
Ethiopian Airlines has seen an opportunity in the exports of both perishable and non-perishable products from Nigeria to Europe, America and other parts of the world, which is witnessing a significant increase as a result of the weaker naira and the push by the Federal Government to promote export of local commodities.
“One of the destinations where we have dedicated cargo operations to is Nigeria. So, from Nigeria to Asia, we have a dedicated cargo terminal. We have seen the growth in exports from Nigeria and so have initiated cargo operations in and out of Nigeria,” Sable Wongel Azene, manager, ET-Holidays, said.
Azene said for domestic movement in traffic volume, Nigeria was the largest country for Ethiopian Airlines operations.
According to Azene, “We have inaugurated a new cargo terminal and it is the largest in Africa because it has a capacity of 600,000 tons of automated cargo and the largest cooling system for perishable items.
“It is equipped with state-of-the-art technology. So, in addition to the passenger services we offer, we are targeting offering cargo services between the continent and to the rest of the world. It has its own maintenance facility.
“Over the last 12 months or more, there has been a lot of shortage of foreign exchange, which has driven people to go into export to earn dollars. This could be the general driver or explanation,” Ede Dafinone, chairman of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria Export Group (MANEG), said.
BusinessDay recently visited two air cargo-handling companies, Skyways Aviation Handling Company Limited (SAHCOL) and Nigerian Aviation Handling Company, Nahco Aviance (NAHCO), which handle 100 percent of all export and import cargoes going through Nigerian airports.
Data gathered from NAHCO show that air cargo export soared from 9,609,772 kilogram (kg)in 2015 to 12,094,952kg in 2016, showing a 25.8 percent increase.
On the other hand, the volume of air cargo import declined significantly from 75,016,936 kg in 2015 to 52,842,852 kg in 2016, which is a 41.96 percent drop.
Similar data obtained from SAHCOL show that air cargo exports rose from 3,147,842kg in 2015 to 6,665,340kg in 2016, showing a 111.74 percent rise.
However, import fell from 12,440,234kg in 2015 to 11,327,915kg in 2016, showing a 8.9 percent fall.
Seyi Adewale, chief commercial officer, Nigerian Aviation Handling Company plc, explained that the Federal Government had been doing a lot of awareness campaigns through its agencies such as Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), which had seen more farmers, middlemen and manufacturers moving into export.
Some of the commodities being exported are palm oil, vegetables (fresh/dry), melon (egusi), ‘ogbono’ seeds, ‘cashew nut,’ ginger and garlic. Others include zobo leaves, yam, plantain, pepper, cocoa, bitter cola, cola nut, garri, dried fish, yam flour, cassava flour, plantain flour, cocoyam, vegetables and various kinds of fruits.
“We are seeing a rise in the exportation and this makes us happy. Our products are in high demand in America, Europe and Africa. Products that go to America include dry fish, crayfish, palm oil, groundnut, egusi, ogbono and yam,” Jasper Awunor, coordinator of NAHCO warehouse, told BusinessDay.
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