- Country’s ports rated most expensive, obsolete in Africa
Despite series of ease of doing business initiatives of the Federal Government, apparently to fast-track operations, major Nigerian ports have been rated among the worst in sub-Saharan Africa.
This vote of no confidence was passed on the Nigerian Ports Authority by stakeholders in the maritime sector, who alleged that the government had failed in its responsibility to position the ports among the best in Africa, following the series of failed reforms it could not follow to the letter.
If you have shallow waters and big ships can’t come, then you won’t be able to attract business. If you look at ports in other climes like Dubai, Singapore and Shanghai, they are world-class international ports that can handle massive containers
An impeccable source in the NPA disclosed to The Point that the poor state of the ports made the Nigerian economy lose about N250 billion to neighbouring countries in 2016 alone.
“Gross inefficiency at the Nigerian ports made Nigeria lose over N250 billion to neighbouring countries with efficient infrastructure in 2016 alone,” he said.
The stakeholders observed that the facilities at the ports were obsolete, begging for upgrade. They also lamented the lack of modern scanner, a situation where scanning manually at the ports had led to delays in operation.
A maritime and commercial lawyer, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, explained that the causes of barriers and disruptions at the Nigerian Ports were largely caused by institutional, operational failures, legal and administrative challenges.
He noted that previous reforms had failed, owing to bureaucracy in the regulatory sections of the ailing sector.
Agbakoba held officials of the Ministry of Transport, several public agencies and private terminal operators culpable.
He said, “The cost of clearing goods remains a significant hurdle with the importing and exporting sections, as Nigeria’s seaports still rank as the most expensive in Africa. “Presently, on the import side, costs related to yard handling fees (which include demurrage and storage), longerthan-ideal border clearance times, yard handling procedures, and informal payments to Customs and other government agencies have eaten deep into the fabrics of the ports’ operations.”
He added, “Most ships bringing goods to Nigeria prefer to go to other ports. It’s like you buying a car from Liverpool, the car will go to Benin Republic ports instead of going to Lagos because the Lagos port is completely inefficient. “You get Customs to inspect it, you get the terminal operators to work out the cost, which will be higher than what you get in Cotonou Benin.”
Agbakoba alleged that most ports in Nigeria were obsolete. For example, while the Port Harcourt Port was built in 1913, the Lagos port was built in 1948.
“They are so shallow that big ships cannot come into them. If you have shallow waters and big ships can’t come, then you won’t be able to attract business. If you look at ports in other climes like Dubai, Singapore and Shanghai, they are world-class international ports that can handle massive containers and ocean vessels that can carry about 10,000 containers in one day, while ours can only do 80 containers daily.”
The Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Shippers Council, Alhaji Hassan Bello, blamed the unbearable cost of doing business at the ports on some ‘cabals’, who appeared bigger than the government.
He said, “This was why tariffs were set unilaterally and arbitrarily. You can’t set tariffs without scientific explanations. The NSC has been battling with the cost of doing business for as long as I know. Prior to its appointment as a regulator, the cost had been more than what is obtainable.
“What we are saying is that we acknowledge the fact that the private sector has invested in the port sector. But efficiency is important to us because shippers have choices. Before now, we used to say Nigeria was a hub, but now, Nigeria can never be the hub because there are other choices. It is a function of choice. This is the cardinal thing we are looking into.”
He advised the Federal Government to concentrate on making the ports nationally viable, and on making the ports a regional hub; meaning that all the vessels in the Central and West African coast must come to Nigeria, being the biggest economy in Africa, before going to their various destinations.
He said through this, the country would become a maritime international centre.
HIGH CHARGES HINDERING DEVELOPMENT – NAGAFF
The President, National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders, Prince Increase Onwuka, also explained that the recent ease of doing business introduced by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo was not adequate to create the desired turnaround at the ports.
If you have shallow waters and big ships can’t come, then you won’t be able to attract business. If you look at ports in other climes like Dubai, Singapore and Shanghai, they are world-class international ports that can handle massive containers
According to him, the initiative is not addressing the multiple challenges like poor infrastructure, bureaucratic red-tape, constant delays, high costs, harassment, and demands for illegal charges facing operators at the ports.
He said, “We are still having problems with the 24-hour cargo clearance because the roads are bad; they are not easily accessible because they are in deplorable states, which is still causing delay and gridlock.
“We also have the issue of insecurity at the ports. The ports are not well lit at night; movement during the day has been a problem, much less moving at night when everywhere is dark. If these are not tackled, the 24-hour operation in the new policy is not workable.”
The NAGAFF boss added that the reforms of ports under the Obasanjo administration was a good idea, but noted that the idea was shortlived in terms of implementation by the port authorities. According to him, the cost of importing goods is really high.
Onwuka said, “They did not take care of most of the things that were suggested, that needed to be looked into, like the local shipping charges. One of the assurances they gave us was that the port service would be concessioned and charges would come down, unlike what it used to be.
“They promised efficiency, that the ports would be user-friendly, but at the end of the day, the reverse is the case, because we have not seen anything positive. Demurrage on containers has increased by 600 per cent.”
INVESTIGATION ONGOING – NPA
The General Manager, Public Affairs, NPA, Chief Nasiru Ibrahim, told The Point that a committee had been set up during a stakeholders’ meeting, held recently, to look into the allegations levelled against some agencies in the sector.
He said the apex agency was determined to proffer a lasting solution to the challenges facing operators.
He added that the government was also adopting the strategy of close monitoring of execution of projects and orders on the 24-hour operations, which had already commenced.
“It is not a matter of the government giving orders alone, it is a matter of ensuring that those things are being worked upon,” he stressed.
Concerning security at the ports, he added that NPA was already addressing that as it had deployed several security personnel at various stations round the ports to ensure that “operations go on safely without any hindrance.”
