Agency Report
Nigeria’s quest to boost revenue through non-oil exports is threatened as shipment of about 50,000 tons of cashew nuts valued at $300 million are delayed, due to the gridlock and inefficiency at the ports in Lagos.
According to Bloomberg, this delay is said to be threatening this year’s output of cashew, as traders become cash-strapped.
Confirming the report, President of the Nigeria Cashew Exporters Association, Tola Fasheru, noted that the cashew fruits from last year’s harvest should have been exported by January, instead they are still stucked in truck’s containers waiting to enter the ports or wharves.
According to Fasheru, the roads leading to the Lagos ports are badly congested, with hundreds of lorries queuing to enter the premises to either deliver or pick goods.
He pointed the lack of infrastructure, inadequate capacity, stifling red tape and corruption as the main threats hampering export processes.
There is a palpable lack of synergy among the port operators and this is affecting the business of our members,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Transportation, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has said the inability to do away with human contacts in port operations is affecting its efficiency.
Amaechi said that the country had not developed enough technology to run the ports without human contacts.
He said continuous training of ports workers in technology would translate to its efficiency and ultimately become competitive.
“You move in your goods and take it out in 24 hours and this makes the ports more competitive than keeping goods for 40 days.
“When you compare Nigerian economy with the economy of other countries, you have to look at the factors of production.
“If those factors of production are cheaper in those countries, then the cost of goods in those countries will be cheaper than the cost of shipping goods there.
“It also includes seaports. If the seaport activities are costly, it will be less competitive,” Amaechi said.
He said that people were rushing to Dubai to ship in goods into many countries because it operates mostly on zero cost.
The minister said that the present management of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) was working hard in ensuring seamless operations at the nation’s ports.