Cashew exporters lament alleged inefficiency at Lagos ports

EXPORTERS of cashew are lamenting the delayed shipment of about 50,000 tons of cashew nuts valued at $300 million, due to the gridlock and inefficiency at the ports in Lagos.

According to Bloomberg, This delay is said to be threatening this year’s output of cashew, as traders become cash-strapped.

Reacting to this, President of the Nigeria Cashew Exporters Association, Tola Fasheru, noted that the cashew fruits from last year’s harvest should have been exported by January, instead they are still stucked in truck’s containers waiting to enter the ports or wharves.

According to Fasheru, the roads leading to the Lagos ports are badly congested, with hundreds of lorries queuing to enter the premises to either deliver or pick goods.

He pointed the lack of infrastructure, inadequate capacity, stifling red tape and corruption as the main threats hampering export processes.

“There is a palpable lack of synergy among the port operators and this is affecting the business of our members,” he said.

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The President revealed that the situation has made members of the cashew association to default on exporting contracts, to the extent that foreign buyers are now walking away from them.

He added that foreign buyers are no longer willing to give the group fresh contracts, adding that “Not one single cashew exporter is in the field now as he is owing on contracts and as a result has no money to operate with”.

The delay is likely to affect the output target of 260,000 tons for the current season, which commenced in February and is expected to end in July.