The Executive Secretary and CEO of the Nigerian Shippers Council Barr. Akutah Pius Ukeyima says the government is presently addressing the issues surrounding the full utilisation of the Calabar Port.
He disclosed this in Calabar during a one-day awareness seminar on “Agricultural Exports through Calabar Port: Challenges and Prospects” organized by our Calabar Port Authority.
Barr Ukeima said the Ministry of Maritime and Blue Economy is developing a new policy document, part of which is port efficiency.
He said, “Government appreciates, and is currently addressing the challenges to the optimal utilization of the Calabar Port.
“Such as the shallow approach channel and berth draft, poor access roads, decaying port infrastructure, inefficient port operations, and cumbersome processes and procedures.
“Government is looking at moving from less than half a billion-dollar to a trillion-dollar economy in four years and the blue economy is one of the pivotal drivers.
“To achieve the target, hindrances to efficient port operations are being identified and speedily removed”, he said.
He added that the Nigerian Shippers’ Council has established an export desk at the Head Office to assist exporters sort out challenges with their exports while modalities for replication at Zonal, Ports and Area Offices are being worked out.
In her address, the Zonal Director South-South Zone Glory E. Onojedo said the mandate of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council as Port Economic Regulator requires that we are abreast of the issues that affect efficiency and effectiveness in the ports.
She added that the location of the Calabar port places it in a strategic position for the export of agricultural produce from Cross River State and its contiguous neighbours.
She said the Shippers Council is committed to ensuring the ease of doing business in line with the resolve of the Marine and Blue Economy policy of the Federal Government.
In his presentation, the Manager of the Calabar Port, Olumati Festus said the Nigerian Shippers Council has a role to play in coordinating and grouping multiple shippers into one large whole such that the required cargo volume is attained to offset the cost of a liner vessel call to Calabar Port.
He assured that the NPA, together with the three private terminal operators are able and willing to waivers and other favourable terms to shipping lines and exporters as incentives to encourage the export of agricultural produce from Calabar Port.
Also speaking, the Cross River State Commissioner for Commerce Abigail Duke Orok said the seminar is apt as it will enlighten stakeholders in the export business of the necessity of exporting goods through Calabar Port.
She expressed hope that the knowledge gained will encourage seamless export from the port.
In a seven-point communique issued at the end of the seminar, the participants demanded that the government should address the infrastructure deficit mitigating the export of agricultural goods from the port and also streamline taxes.
They also called on terminal operators to provide modern cargo-handling equipment at their terminals.
The participants expressed displeasure at the non-availability of liner vessels in the Calabar port and thereby called on the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Cross River State Government, Terminal Operators and shipping companies to come up with strategies to market the port in order to attract liner vessels to call at the port.
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