Following the identified impediments to fast clearing of cargo at Nigerian seaports, the total sum invested on importing, clearing and taking delivery of a container from any Nigerian seaport, has been discovered to be the highest among peer neighbouring countries.
A recent survey on Nigerian seaports conducted by the National Freight Information and Transport Hub (NAFITH), an Iranian based company, reveals that the end cost of routing containers through seaports in Ghana, Benin Republic, Djibouti, Togo, Jordan among other countries is more competitive, compared to Nigerian seaports.
“The end cost of a container in Nigerian ports is very high, compared to ports in other neighbouring countries and there is need to reduce the cost for the benefit of Nigerians,” Sameer Mubarak, chairman of NAFITH, said recently, while presenting the survey in a forum in Lagos.
According to Mubarak, the prohibitive import processing cost in Nigerian ports is engineered by several clearing bottlenecks, cargo delay at the port gate by multiple government agencies, including the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) security and the perennial traffic congestion on the roads leading to Apapa, the major seaport in Lagos.
Listing the areas that contribute to high cost for the importer, Mubarak stated that apart from the cost of freight, Nigerian importers spend a lot of money on paying for demurrage and storage charges to shipping companies and terminal operators for not taking delivery of cargo as when due. “The perennial traffic congestion on the roads leading to port including the delay at the port gate also results to high cost of haulage.
“To help in reducing the end cost of containers, which is transferred to the Nigerian populace, agencies and operators need to adopt the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) single window model, which is electronically powered. This single window model, which has been tested in ports in the Western world ensures that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) becomes automated,” he said.
Continuing, he pointed out: “Nigerian ports need paperless Customs; e-payment of Customs duty; e-container loading list; electronic risk-based inspection; connecting other government agencies under one platform and e-permit exchange among operators.”
Confirming the result of the survey, Tony Anakebe, a renowned maritime analyst, said it takes a minimum of N500,000 equivalent to ($2,500) to clear a 20 footer container out of the port, which ordinarily should cost about N200,000 in neighbouring countries.
“It is much cheaper to bring cargo through the port in Ghana or Benin, clear it within one week and take the risk to bring it into the Nigerian market, through the land borders.”
Anakebe blamed the delay in cargo clearance on the 100 percent physical examination of cargo by Customs, against the global best practises of scanning. He listed other impediments to speedy clearing to inclide irrational interception of containers at the ports by multiple government agencies and the failure of operators to imbibe automated clearing procedures.
Emma Nwabunne, a Lagos based importer, said automation of cargo clearance processes will help put proper logistics control in place to fast track cargo clearance.
AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE
