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Increasing cost of living in the country without corresponding rise in income has become a serious issue which must be addressed urgently to save the economy from collapse, this is the view of several maritime operators in the country.
Not a few of them however insist that this rising cost has not only impoverished the populace, but has become a source of worry to people doing business, in the country.
They further noted that despite government’s plans to make the country more conducive for businesses, the standard of living has continued to deteriorate everyday, as total overhead cost of providing goods and services are on the increase.
As a result of the increase, importers and freight forwarders have accused terminal operators, shipping companies, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and other agencies working at the ports, of contributing to this ugly development. Shipping companies, the importers say, have increased their charges while the terminal operators have introduced new rates for cargo handling operations, as well as doubled their fees on dwell time of consignments at the ports.
Recently, chairman of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Boniface Aniebonam, at an event in Lagos, said importers paid N11,715.50 for 20-footer containers before concession and N18,158.50 for 40-footers to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) era. The same containers now go for N50,285.00 and N68,068.00 respectively, which mark a 329.2 percent and 274.85 percent increase from what it used to be before concession, he explained.
According to Aniebonam, government’s decision to embark on the port concession exercise was to reduce the cost of clearing goods to about 30 percent, but up till now, a lot remains to be appreciated in terms of costs and quality assurance.
“It is not enough to say that the number of days it takes to clear consignments at the ports has reduced but at what cost,” he asked.
On his part, the president, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Jide Mike said Port and terminal charges were 302 percent higher within two years after, concessioning exercise. The increase, he said, was due to infrastructural development and investments the concessionaires had made at the ports within the period. Mike said services at the ports had improved in the last two years, with waiting period for vessels reduced from 14-28 days to 0-24 hours, while container moves per hour had increased from seven containers to 19.
The MAN president regretted that stakeholders were not appreciative of achievements and the turnaround time of vessels because of the high charges. “The gains from concession are better and far outweigh the situation on ground prior to port congestion and therefore, operators in the industry should be patient,” stated.
He maintained that there were no other alternatives to improving the situation of the Nigerian maritime industry, which had made the seaports unattractive and odious to operators from other parts of the world, with special charges and fines on ships plying the country’s route.
However, according to sources, ships pay the sum of N1,755,000 ($15,000) each day they spend on Nigerian waters and this payment is eventually passed to cargo owners as demurrage. The demurrage has added to the price of clearing goods despite the withdrawal of N93,900 ($800), which the international community collected from importers as surcharge before the concession programme.
According to the president, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Ernest Elochukwu, there are so many factors contributing to increasing cost of clearing goods. He pointed out the presence of multiple agencies, stressing that they delay the movement of goods out of the ports.
Elochukwu expressed dissatisfaction that shipping companies still submit their manifest manually, adding to the number of days cargoes stay at the port, because of the time it takes to key in the figures into the computers. “In some terminals, Risk Assessment Report is being transferred physically,” the ANLCA boss stated.
The comptroller-general of Customs, Jacob Gyang Buba, said some concessionaires lacked cargo handling equipment, stressing that they had to rent machines to discharge consignments at the port. He emphasised that the reforms in the maritime industry must be all- encompassing to ensure quick movement of goods out of the ports, otherwise the cost of doing business would continue to rise.
Unfortunately, so many importers have abandoned their consignments at the port because of the charges,” Onuchukwu James, president of Importers Association of Nigeria explained.
He expressed regrets that importers hadalways been at the receiving end of any anomaly at the ports.
Although most of the problems are the fault of the importers as they await cargo arrival at the port before commencing clearance procedure, it cannot not be totally ruled out that some of the shipping companies and terminal operators are devising means of ripping the country of its fortunes.
The shipping lines have introduced levies such as equipment fee, terminal handling charges, equipment clearing and maintenance fee, Maritime Organisation of West and Central African (MOWCA) bill, deposit of containers and many others which were never included before the concessionaires programme.
It is therefore necessary for government to address these problems so that cargoes will not attract more demurrage which adds to high port charges.
Not a few of them however insist that this rising cost has not only impoverished the populace, but has become a source of worry to people doing business, in the country.
They further noted that despite government’s plans to make the country more conducive for businesses, the standard of living has continued to deteriorate everyday, as total overhead cost of providing goods and services are on the increase.
As a result of the increase, importers and freight forwarders have accused terminal operators, shipping companies, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and other agencies working at the ports, of contributing to this ugly development. Shipping companies, the importers say, have increased their charges while the terminal operators have introduced new rates for cargo handling operations, as well as doubled their fees on dwell time of consignments at the ports.
Recently, chairman of the National Association of Government Approved Freight Forwarders (NAGAFF), Boniface Aniebonam, at an event in Lagos, said importers paid N11,715.50 for 20-footer containers before concession and N18,158.50 for 40-footers to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) era. The same containers now go for N50,285.00 and N68,068.00 respectively, which mark a 329.2 percent and 274.85 percent increase from what it used to be before concession, he explained.
According to Aniebonam, government’s decision to embark on the port concession exercise was to reduce the cost of clearing goods to about 30 percent, but up till now, a lot remains to be appreciated in terms of costs and quality assurance.
“It is not enough to say that the number of days it takes to clear consignments at the ports has reduced but at what cost,” he asked.
On his part, the president, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Jide Mike said Port and terminal charges were 302 percent higher within two years after, concessioning exercise. The increase, he said, was due to infrastructural development and investments the concessionaires had made at the ports within the period. Mike said services at the ports had improved in the last two years, with waiting period for vessels reduced from 14-28 days to 0-24 hours, while container moves per hour had increased from seven containers to 19.
The MAN president regretted that stakeholders were not appreciative of achievements and the turnaround time of vessels because of the high charges. “The gains from concession are better and far outweigh the situation on ground prior to port congestion and therefore, operators in the industry should be patient,” stated.
He maintained that there were no other alternatives to improving the situation of the Nigerian maritime industry, which had made the seaports unattractive and odious to operators from other parts of the world, with special charges and fines on ships plying the country’s route.
However, according to sources, ships pay the sum of N1,755,000 ($15,000) each day they spend on Nigerian waters and this payment is eventually passed to cargo owners as demurrage. The demurrage has added to the price of clearing goods despite the withdrawal of N93,900 ($800), which the international community collected from importers as surcharge before the concession programme.
According to the president, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Ernest Elochukwu, there are so many factors contributing to increasing cost of clearing goods. He pointed out the presence of multiple agencies, stressing that they delay the movement of goods out of the ports.
Elochukwu expressed dissatisfaction that shipping companies still submit their manifest manually, adding to the number of days cargoes stay at the port, because of the time it takes to key in the figures into the computers. “In some terminals, Risk Assessment Report is being transferred physically,” the ANLCA boss stated.
The comptroller-general of Customs, Jacob Gyang Buba, said some concessionaires lacked cargo handling equipment, stressing that they had to rent machines to discharge consignments at the port. He emphasised that the reforms in the maritime industry must be all- encompassing to ensure quick movement of goods out of the ports, otherwise the cost of doing business would continue to rise.
Unfortunately, so many importers have abandoned their consignments at the port because of the charges,” Onuchukwu James, president of Importers Association of Nigeria explained.
He expressed regrets that importers hadalways been at the receiving end of any anomaly at the ports.
Although most of the problems are the fault of the importers as they await cargo arrival at the port before commencing clearance procedure, it cannot not be totally ruled out that some of the shipping companies and terminal operators are devising means of ripping the country of its fortunes.
The shipping lines have introduced levies such as equipment fee, terminal handling charges, equipment clearing and maintenance fee, Maritime Organisation of West and Central African (MOWCA) bill, deposit of containers and many others which were never included before the concessionaires programme.
It is therefore necessary for government to address these problems so that cargoes will not attract more demurrage which adds to high port charges.
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