The Chairman, Shiping Agencies, Clearing and Forwarding Employers Association(SACFEA), Boma Alabi has said that the cost of doing business in Nigerian ports is working against the country as smaller countries have taken advantage to wrest cargoes from Nigerian ports due to high cost of berthing vessels that is making Nigerian Ports uncompetitive to customers.
She made this known at a press conference held in Lagos over the weekend.
She averred that Nigerian Ports have become uncompetitive because of the several charges customers are made to pay at the port as compared to neighboring Ports like Cotonou and Lome who collect relatively low charges.
Citing the example of Terminal 3 at Tema Port which is a dedicated container terminal that operates 3 berths and capable of receiving ships of 366m LOA and16 metres draught at Ghana, she said that Tema Port does 1.9m TEUs while Nigeria does 1.2m TEUs per year according to a report by NPS Meridian Port Services Limited in 2024.
She lamented that the Vessel berthing charges at Tema Port is 15,000 dollars but is 150,000 dollars in Nigeria and considering the 15% increment in the Ports and Marine Fees by the Nigerian Ports Authority charges, it is about 200,000 dollars presently.
Alabi noted that a 20ft container before now costs N55,000 and a 40ft container costs N100,000 but now, a 20ft container costs N145,000 and a 40ft container costs N290,000 without port charge and logistics fees.
She compared these same costs with what is charged in Lome to be 26,000 dollars, Cotonou- 27,000 dollars, Singapore- 29 000 dollars, Shanghai 21,000 dollars, Abidjan-60,000 dollars.
Alabi emphasised that the statistics above show that Nigerian Ports are not competitive so an investor will rather go to a place where he can get a good return on investment than invest in Nigeria.
“We were not informed about the charges before the government implemented them. The government should try to make the ports competitive and attractive, which can be achieved through a reduction of port charges.
“If port charges are reduced, cargo throughput will increase, then the government will make more revenue, and there will be enough jobs available for the youths,” Alabi said.
She also said that the indirect taxation that customers have to pay is making the Nigerian business environment unfriendly to business and investment as there are no new factories or manufacturing companies and the unemployment gap is widening daily.
She complained about the dilapidated port structures, queues from cargo trucks, pot holes on port access roads, human toll- gates, government agencies collecting fees, which is eventually transferred to the transportation costs bored by the masses.
She averred that the Blue Economy Project is dead on arrival because of the mind and attitude of the Nigerian government which is anti-business.
She called on the Nigerian Government to stop dollarizing the economy.
“The 15% increment in Shipping Charges is a triple increment on the amount we use to pay. Just like the Customs 4% is suspended, please help us remove it. We are pleading,” Alabi said.
She urged the government to review the charges in line with what obtains in other neighboring Ports and enjoined the agencies to engage stakeholders in order to review the port charges so that Nigerian Ports can be competitive again.
Earlier, Ramesh Saraf, Deputy Managing Director, CMA/CGM Nigeria asserted that with international investment, the Lekki Free Trade Zone was set in place but as regards transshipment, he said the infrastructure is underutilized.
“Lekki Deep Sea Port started operation in April 2023 with less than half capacity of cargo, and now less operation is taking place at the port.
“The cost of operation in Lekki Deep Sea Port is triple the port charges in other ports across the world,” Saraf said.
He said that the jobs carried out there is less than half in terms of volume, and with the new 15% increase in Port and Marine Fees, transhipment is now more than three times expensive as compared to what is charged in other ports.
Consequently, he lamented that Nigerian importers and exporters take their products to Ghana and Cotonou Ports while finding a way to bring them back into the Country for sales.
“Let us not kill the cargo business in the name of increasing revenue,” he lamented.
But an annonymous source from the Nigerian Ports Authority refuted these claims.
The source noted that a lot of factors determine the cost incurred on sizes of containers and cost of berthing vessels which include gross tonnage of vessel (GRT), unit of Twenty- foot Equivalent Unit (TEUs) discharged or loaded, origin of the cargo, status of terminal of operation, Length Overall of vessel (LOA)amongst others.
He also averred that many operations do not have exact statistics on these factors, so, it is almost impossible to tie all tauted values to NPA port charges vis-a-vis the countries listed against Nigeria.
“The submission forwarded, therefore, is vague. How could a 20ft container that costs N55,000 before 15% increment now cost N145k? That would be 263% increase, whereas the 15% increment is supposed to be N63, 240?
“In the same vein, 40ft container that cost N100k increased to N209, 000 at 209% increment as against 15% which ought to be N115,000.
“Also, according to their claim, a vessel that costs $150,00 to Berth before 15% review rose to $240, 000 which is 160% rise as against 15% increase. Meanwhile, similar operations cost more in smaller countries,” the NPA source explained.
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