80% Containers Arriving Nigeria Return Empty – Shippers Council

Out of every 10 containers that come into Nigeria laden with imports, only about two or three leave the country with exports, the Nigerian Shippers Council said on Thursday.

In order to address this, the council agreed to partner the Nigerian Export Promotion Council to drive export volume and halt the tradition of empty containers leaving Nigeria.

Speaking at an event between both agencies in Abuja, the Executive Secretary, NSC, Hassan Bello, said, “Out of 10 containers than come into Nigeria laden, only two or three are taken out with exports. We can do even more. We can do even 12.”

On what the council was doing to enhance exports from Nigeria, Bello said the NSC had to cut its charges to the barest minimum.

He said the digitisation of the ports and the provision of multi-modal transportation access to the ports had commenced to further support in the drive to increase exports from Nigeria.

Bello said there was also a need to incentivise exporters, adding that Nigeria’s port terminals were not export friendly, as the cost of export was higher in Nigeria than the cost obtainable in competing nations.

The Executive Director, NEPC, Olusegun Awolowo, said his agency had identified 22 export commodities that could help the country reverse the ugly trend of containers going back empty from Nigeria.

He said the NEPC would key into inland container deports across the country to drive exports starting with the Kaduna Dry Port.