Nigeria’s lack of logistics capacity threat to AfCFTA, PIB gains ― Expert

Nigeria’s lack of logistics capacity may prevent the country from reaping the full benefits of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement (AfCFTA) and the newly passed Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

This is the view of a logistics expert, Mubarak Mahmoud, who observed that there is a massive human capacity gap in the logistics administration sector in the country.

Mahmoud, a marine officer/ Offshore oil and gas expert, told newsmen in Abuja Monday that Nigeria does not have skilled persons in logistics field to fill strategic logistics positions offered by AfCFTA and PIB.

He said citizens of other African countries are poised to occupy strategic specialised positions because of the inability of Nigeria to provide the requisite human resource persons to fill such positions.

According to him, not tapping the opportunities provided by the continental platform will further compound unemployment, insecurity and other challenges in Nigeria.

Mahmoud advised that Nigerian universities need to quickly begin to train and generate professionals in logistics and other specialists who will fit in that opportunity presented by the AfFCTA and the PIB.

He said, “I want to use the case of the recently ratified African continental free trade area agreement and I will still come back to that of the Oil and Gas Industry but I want to give you this example because it affects not just people in the oil and gas but every normal and prosperity seeking Nigerian Who wants to live a normal life.

“We know that African continental agreement is the largest free-trade pact in the world today. So now if Nigeria being the largest economy in Africa rectify this. Do we actually have the players that will play in that Arena? The answer is no.

“In the absence of having Nigerians who are qualified enough and sufficient in number enough because the space in the arena is big, we need plenty Nigerians to fill in that arena. But in the absence of that, other African citizens would come and fill in that space further compounding our lack of employment, our insecurity problems and challenges.”

On the PIB, he said: “If the relevant agencies and institutions that have the mandate of the oil and gas sector do not quickly swing into action and begin to offer logistics economic programs, exploration economics, how will local indigenous oil producing companies have the capacity to handle investment in oil and gas from the beginning of the life an oil field to the late life of an oil field?”

“So, now if Nigerians do not train this army of logistics soldiers that they need to fill in this trade opportunities and gap other African countries will fill it up. This is how impactful the gap is,” he said.

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