The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria has urged the Federal Government to take a holistic approach that will improve accountability, transparency, and also enhance efficiency in the operations of customs services at the borders.
This statement was made by the President of MAN, Engr. Mansur Ahmed, according to the press release issued by the association on Monday, 30th of December 2020.
What you should know
The President of MAN disclosed that as a result of the border closure, manufacturers in Nigeria have continued to lose and are still losing market share on daily basis in the West African corridor as the export of manufacturers’ products has become overly less competitive.
He disclosed that manufacturers in the Export Group of the Association clearly suffered huge losses due to logistics issues occasioned by the closure as it takes an average of 8weeks for the carriers to ship and truck goods within countries in the same region vis-à-vis trucking through the land border, which takes an average of 7-10days.
This development affected the operations at the sea Port, as the closure increased the perennial congestion at the Apapa and Tin Can Island Ports, thus leading to greater challenges to exporters and increased demurrages cost and other Port levies.
This made manufacturers who export to neighboring African countries to close down their export segments due to the border closure which discouraged long-term investments and affected the economy.
(READ MORE: Nigeria’s border closure hurt many Ghanaian exporters – Ghanaian Foreign Minister)
Policy recommendations
In view of tackling the initial problem stated by the government on the shutting of the land borders, Engr. Ahmed implored the Federal Government to take a holistic approach that would address the root cause of the problem and provide mutually reinforcing solutions, rather than a border closure which is not a sustainable solution to the challenge of trade distortions and abuse of economic protocols by neighboring countries in the region.
He recommended the following as possible solutions, while the directive of land border closure is being lifted:
- Establish joint border patrols with neighboring countries involving police, customs, immigration, navy, and state security services of the countries;
- Invest in new technology that will improve accountability and transparency and enhance efficiency in the operations of customs services;
- Strengthen the coordination among the regulatory agencies to ensure that they share, trade information, and review trade policies on time;
- Diplomatically engage the Governments of Niger and Benin Republic on trade data sharing, and ensure that containers in transit to Nigeria are not offloaded into trucks and smuggled into Nigeria;
- Establish a clear and enforceable legal and regulatory framework with stiffer penalties to deter potential offenders.
