Nigeria incurs losses as Chinese vessels hijack AfCFTA trade

INDIGENOUS ship owners in Nigeria have raised the alarm that Nigeria is currently losing billions in revenue to capital flight due to the dominance of the nation’s African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement by foreign vessels, especially Chinese-owned vessels.

Recall that Nigeria in July 2024 launched its first shipment under AfCFTA when ten exporters namely Dangote, Tolaram Group, Flour Mills Nigeria, Hwani Industry Nigeria Limited among others exported various made-in-Nigeria products which included bags, smart cards, black soap, alcoholic bitters, shea butter, native starch, and water closet sanitary to five countries across East, Central, and North Africa sub-regions.

Speaking at the weekend during the 16th Marine and Technical Summit of the Association of Marine Engineers and Surveyors (AMES), Chairman, Starzs Investments Company Limited (SICL), Engineer Greg Ogbeifun revealed that most of the vessels carrying Nigeria’s AfCFTA goods to other African countries are Chinese vessels.

According to Engineer Ogbeifun, “We have been talking of the AfCFTA for some time now. Anytime I watch the television programme, I see our government functionaries celebrating AfCFTA . We hear of exporters exporting made in Nigeria goods to other African countries and our government celebrates this. This is not what AfCFTA is all about.

“Let us ask ourselves, how many of the exports that Nigeria is shipping to other African countries under AfCFTA is being carried by Nigerian owned ships? Zero.

I can tell you that the Chinese are currently mobilizing and bringing their ships to come and run the AfCFTA trade for our country.

“Ordinarily, this should be a low-hanging fruit for the Nigerian government. The Nigerian government ought to be looking at how indigenous vessel owners will participate in the AfCFTA trade. The cargoes are ours; Nigerian ships should be moving them to other African countries so as to generate revenue for the country.

“But what do we see? We see government functionaries celebrating failure. They celebrate foreign vessels carrying our goods to other African countries. AfCFTA is trade between African countries via air, land and sea. For land, yes, Nigerian trucks are moving goods to our near-bye neighbours. But by sea, I can say authoritatively that there is no Nigerian vessel involved in the carriage of Nigerian goods under AfCFTA.

“As things stand, Nigeria is losing billions of revenues to capital flight because the vessels carrying our goods under AfCFTA are foreign-owned ships. The Chinese are mobilising, I am aware of this. There ships are everywhere and taking over our AfCFTA trade. Is this what we are celebrating?

Tola Adenubi