LAGOS —
Reports from the Nigerian Ports Consultative Council, NPCC, in its quarterly meeting, showed that container traffic declined by 6.8 per cent to 1.56mn 20 Feet Equivalent Units, TEUs, from 1.68mn TEUs in 2023. Adeniyi, who visited some of the terminals in Lagos, lamented that most of the terminals were empty, noting that import trade has dropped.
Similarly, a former Vice President of the ANLCA, Mr Kayode Farinto, said: “the unstable exchange rate set by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, for payment of import duty, will continue to lead to further drops in cargo volume at the nation’s seaports if the government fails to take prompt action to address the problem.”
“We have three levels of importation. We have bulk cargo, containerized goods and vehicles. The level of import on vehicles has dropped to about 55 per cent, the level of import on containers has dropped to about 30 per cent, and on bulk cargo it is about 20 per cent. So, we are not winning the war. “I keep saying we have a CBN that is so arrogant they believe because of their new law that has been amended they can do whatever they like. I told the Comptroller-General of Customs that he is not helping issues. Negotiate with the CBN, draw them to the Minister of Finance, sit at a round table and involve us.
In his remarks, Asconio Russo, Managing Director of Port and Multi-Purpose Terminal Limited, PTML, confirmed that the last two years had been very challenging for the terminals and the country generally.Russo blamed the situation on the devaluation of the naira and the trending inflationary rate. “So, the volume of vehicle import is down by 80 per cent and of course, this has put a huge strain on our finances but that does not mean we will shy away from responsibilities.Investigation revealed that if urgent measures are not taken to address the issue of high exchange rate, over 40,000 jobs will be at risk across port formations in the country.
‘’Investors in the maritime sector have grounded operations. In some companies, there have been redundancies.