The Federal Government of Nigeria will need to scale up its efforts aimed at increasing the level of patronage of non-Lagos ports if the drive to reduce the pressure of Lagos ports is to succeed, stakeholders in the maritime industry have suggested.
Their views were expressed following the low contribution of non-Lagos ports to the foreign trade activities at the end of the first quarter of 2023.
According to the recent data published by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), Nigeria recorded total foreign trade of N12.05 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2023, comprising N5.56 trillion imports and N6.49 trillion exports.
The Q1 2023 foreign trade data further showed that the ports in Lagos State which are Apapa Ports, Tin Can Island, PTML Customs Office, Muritala Muhammed Cargo and Kirikiri Lighter Terminal were responsible for 83.8 percent of the total import activities while the same Lagos ports executed 97.1 percent of export trade during the quarter, thus bringing the contribution of non-Lagos ports on imports and exports to just 7 percent.
Concerning the non-Lagos ports, on the export chart, Port Harcourt Port at Onne attracted N150.42 billion worth of export trade, followed by Port Harcourt Port in Area 1 which handled N7.66 billion worth of export trade. Calabar Port executed N4.84 billion worth of export trade while Abuja Airport handled N2.42 billion worth of trade.
During the same period, Apapa Port alone in Lagos executed N6.06 trillion worth of export trade, followed by Tin Can Island Port, N199.32 billion and Tin Can Island 2, N2.34 billion.
On the import side, the Onne Port in Port Harcourt executed N357.45 billion worth of import trade, and was closely followed by Port Harcourt Port 1, N142.01 billion; Warri Port, N76.93 billion; Calabar, N65.41 billion among others.
As of Q1 2022, the ports outside of Lagos State executed just three percent of the total foreign trade, during that quarter, showing the gains of non-Lagos ports in the last twelve months were just 4 percentage points.
“The charges collected by shipping companies from exporters and importers who use the ports in Rivers State, for instance, are higher compared to when you use Lagos ports. Another factor is that the traders are small in number, unlike in Lagos where there are many of them and can merge their goods together to attain the quantity as required by shipping companies.
“As a result of the above, traders prefer going to Lagos where the charges are cheaper, and there are many firms whose consignments could be merged together so that the goods will be shipped overseas in time. They pay demurrage here due to their inability to raise transaction charges in time and meet the quantity the shipping companies will be willing to export,” a stakeholder who wanted anonymity said.
The differential in charges persist despite the fact that Nigeria was removed from the countries designated as risk maritime nations, the source added.
The delisting of Nigeria from risk maritime nations was announced by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) in February 2022 citing the International Bargaining Forum.
“Nigeria has been removed from the list of countries designated as risk maritime nations by the International Bargaining Forum, IBF. This is a confirmation of the improved global ratings of Security in the Nigerian maritime domain as a result of sustained collaborative efforts of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA and the Nigerian Navy,” Osagie Edward, Assistant Director, Public Relations, NIMASA, said through a statement.
“The removal of Nigeria from that list ought to have made insurance charges cheaper across all the nation’s ports but that applies only to Lagos ports,” the source added.
