Status of Nigeria Ports! The cost of customs clearance is high and the port is congested!
- Author:Kyrie
- Source:Sunny
- Release Date:2020-08-21
Despite the Nigerian government's slogan "Promoting Business Convenience", the high cost of doing business, low process efficiency, and frequent blackmail incidents in Nigeria's seaports have made the country's portal lose its competitiveness.
In separate conversations with The Guardian, stakeholders described the port situation as “disheartening” and “extremely exploitative.” They lamented a series of illegal payments and extortions, which largely contributed to The high cost of trade.
In a petition from a customs clearance agent under NCMDLCA to President Buhari, it was written that the combination of high customs clearance costs, repeated tariffs and lengthy and cumbersome procedures have made Nigeria's ports the most expensive ports in the world. .
Another member of NCMDLCA, Amiwero, said: “We have noticed that in Nigeria’s failed port system, many factors are causing our port to gradually lose its status as the preferred destination of ECOWAS.”
Causes of high cost
Amiwero cited factors that lead to high port costs, including port channel blockages, scanning and inspection delays, repeated charges and charges that are not related to services, long cargo stay time/port procedures, and container stacking problems.
Other factors are lack of berths and trailer parks, unethical behavior of terminal operators, infrastructure problems, complicated customs procedures, and delays.
Amiwero said that traffic jams on the port passages and the cost of trailers entering and leaving the port have caused the port cost to increase by nearly 500%.
An intelligence report from SBM also showed that compared with Ghana and South Africa, goods shipped from the EU to Nigeria are more expensive.
According to the “Guardian” report, in Nigeria, the terminal fee is about US$457 and the freight is US$374, while the local freight from the port to the warehouse is about US$2050.
A port source said that the current cost of scanning/customs inspection of a 20-foot container is approximately 28,000 Nigerians, while the cost of scanning/customs inspection of a 40-foot container is approximately 41,000 Nigerians.
The Nigerian government's initiatives
Nigerian Shippers Association (Lagos Branch) Chairman Jonathan Nicol said: "This port is slowly disappearing.
If the cost of customs clearance of the goods is within the budget, no shipper is willing to give up his goods. He added that the customs clearance fees at Nigerian ports are more than eight times the cost of the goods.
He said: "Where can the shipper get extra funds to take the goods out of the corrupt port? This is one of the reasons why the goods are abandoned."
However, the Nigeria Port Authority (NPA) stated that they have been working to reduce the pressure on importers and port operators through some incentives.
NPA spokesperson Jatto Adams said in an interview with The Guardian: "We have not reconsidered the issue of increasing tariffs for many years; we have deliberately maintained tariffs as a reduction or exemption.
As the port’s economic regulator, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) stated that in order to improve efficiency and reduce the cost of doing business in the port, they have intervened in several things while still working with stakeholders.
Regarding the issue of high charges for container transportation, Ogbonnaya said that NSC has negotiated with truck drivers.
In the beginning, truck drivers could enter the port area four times a month, but now they enter the port for two weeks and leave the port for two weeks.
As of the end of July, as the largest economy in Africa, Nigeria has been stuck in the quagmire of port congestion. Foreign media even described Nigeria as being stuck in "unending" port congestion.
In separate conversations with The Guardian, stakeholders described the port situation as “disheartening” and “extremely exploitative.” They lamented a series of illegal payments and extortions, which largely contributed to The high cost of trade.
In a petition from a customs clearance agent under NCMDLCA to President Buhari, it was written that the combination of high customs clearance costs, repeated tariffs and lengthy and cumbersome procedures have made Nigeria's ports the most expensive ports in the world. .
Another member of NCMDLCA, Amiwero, said: “We have noticed that in Nigeria’s failed port system, many factors are causing our port to gradually lose its status as the preferred destination of ECOWAS.”
Causes of high cost
Amiwero cited factors that lead to high port costs, including port channel blockages, scanning and inspection delays, repeated charges and charges that are not related to services, long cargo stay time/port procedures, and container stacking problems.
Other factors are lack of berths and trailer parks, unethical behavior of terminal operators, infrastructure problems, complicated customs procedures, and delays.
Amiwero said that traffic jams on the port passages and the cost of trailers entering and leaving the port have caused the port cost to increase by nearly 500%.
An intelligence report from SBM also showed that compared with Ghana and South Africa, goods shipped from the EU to Nigeria are more expensive.
According to the “Guardian” report, in Nigeria, the terminal fee is about US$457 and the freight is US$374, while the local freight from the port to the warehouse is about US$2050.
A port source said that the current cost of scanning/customs inspection of a 20-foot container is approximately 28,000 Nigerians, while the cost of scanning/customs inspection of a 40-foot container is approximately 41,000 Nigerians.
The Nigerian government's initiatives
Nigerian Shippers Association (Lagos Branch) Chairman Jonathan Nicol said: "This port is slowly disappearing.
If the cost of customs clearance of the goods is within the budget, no shipper is willing to give up his goods. He added that the customs clearance fees at Nigerian ports are more than eight times the cost of the goods.
He said: "Where can the shipper get extra funds to take the goods out of the corrupt port? This is one of the reasons why the goods are abandoned."
However, the Nigeria Port Authority (NPA) stated that they have been working to reduce the pressure on importers and port operators through some incentives.
NPA spokesperson Jatto Adams said in an interview with The Guardian: "We have not reconsidered the issue of increasing tariffs for many years; we have deliberately maintained tariffs as a reduction or exemption.
As the port’s economic regulator, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) stated that in order to improve efficiency and reduce the cost of doing business in the port, they have intervened in several things while still working with stakeholders.
Regarding the issue of high charges for container transportation, Ogbonnaya said that NSC has negotiated with truck drivers.
In the beginning, truck drivers could enter the port area four times a month, but now they enter the port for two weeks and leave the port for two weeks.
As of the end of July, as the largest economy in Africa, Nigeria has been stuck in the quagmire of port congestion. Foreign media even described Nigeria as being stuck in "unending" port congestion.