Operators Decry 400% Increase In Freight Rate

Stakeholders in the maritime sector have expressed concern over the increased cost of freight by 400 percent due to the drop in the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

The Stakeholders who expressed their worries in an interactive session in Lagos on Tuesday.

The Chairman Port Consultative Council (PCC), Otunba Kunle Folarin, said before now the sector’s growth rate had been affected by the lockdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The summary of all these is that the economy is gradually going into recession. There is no doubt about that and there is no intervention by government to shore up the dollar.”

He warned that if the dollar rate is let loose, it could go beyond N500 to the dollar.

On his part the President of National Association of Stevedoring Companies (NASC), Mr. Bolaji Sunmola agreed that the economy is heading towards a recession.

“From indices available, the economy is heading towards a recession, we have a situation whereby the capacity to produce is not there, the capacity to buy is not there.”

The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council, Mr. Hassan Bello said the fall in the GDP is expected following the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic which affected virtually other economies of the world.