Business
Nigerians react as port haulage cost reportedly increases to N1.3 million
Nigerians react to the development at the ports as haulage costs increase astronomically.
The recent increase in the haulage cost of moving containers from the Apapa port has elicited an uproar, as Nigerians expressed their reservations via social media.
The development is a result of the monetary and implicit cost impact of the recent gridlock on operators, as the increase in the number of shipments arriving at the port, poor road infrastructure and alleged law enforcement breakdown at the port has led to exorbitant payments.
The gridlock has translated to higher detention and demurrage cost of moving shipments at the port, as freight operators painfully haul their shipment from the port terminal.
Haulage cost continues to bite into the profits of the businesses of Nigerians and adversely affect freight companies and port operators, as these entities have to pay huge sums, running to millions of naira, just to move a container from the terminals.
However, the prospects of new investments in this space looks gloomy, with existing operators battling with the astronomical increase in detention and demurrage charges, as the only option of moving shipment by road is a tough alternative, owing to the poor transportation infrastructure and the underdeveloped rail network and high demand for freight logistics services.
This reality continues to mount pressure on stakeholders in the sector and Nigerians in general, as the prices of commodities are hugely impacted.
What they are saying
A number of freights and forwarding business owners have expressed dissatisfaction recently on social media. Gbemi Ola, a Freight Forwarding Businessperson, took to social media to express how disappointing the current situation is. He tweeted,
- “The recent situation at the port has made Nigeria a very unfriendly place to do business and this has limited the prospects of growth in the logistics space, as freight operators pay huge amount of money to forcefully haul their shipment from the port. The cost of trucking a container from Apapa to 10miles away has increased from N150k to N1.3 million.”
Joshua Aribido, another aggrieved Nigerian, tweeted that,
- “At current rates, since the last two weeks till date, the cost of moving a 40ft container from the terminal just outside black gate or National is N1.2Million. To move this same container to Ladipo, freight operators pay N1.8M.”
The operators also disclosed that aside the increase in the demand for freight service and the poor state of transportation infrastructure in the country, security operatives including Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) security officials, Police and the Presidential task team are responsible for the sporadic increase in the haulage and demurrage cost.
In case you missed it
- Nairametrics reported last week that the haulage cost of moving containers from the Tin Can Island Port terminal increased from N1.2 million to N1.8 million in a week.
- However, the report also revealed that haulage cost of moving a truck miles away from the terminal increased by more than a thousand per cent within the review period, including detention and demurrage costs.
Business
Lagos State seeks investors in aquatic and livestock agriculture value chain
The Commissioner revealed that the scheme was in line with the State’s five-year strategic agriculture roadmap.
The Lagos State Government announced it is seeking private sector collaboration for Agriculture sector value chain development in livestock feed mills, fisheries and red meat.
This was disclosed by the State Commissioner for Agriculture, Ms Abisola Olusanya, in a statement on Sunday in Lagos.
The Commissioner revealed that the scheme was in line with the State’s five-year strategic agriculture roadmap, as the State identified the 3 main sectors for value chain disruption.
READ: Lagos goes tough on illegal conversion of land use, enforcement begins in Ikeja GRA, Lekki, others
She also added that investment in the sectors would also develop jobs for the industry and boost the State’s GDP growth, through Private Sector collaboration as Lagos residents consume over N5 trillion worth of food annually.
“The objective is to stimulate and encourage more public-private partnerships in the three value chains,” she said.
“When you consider this pool of transactions happening in Lagos, it shows that we are the market. For instance, we demand over 400,000 metric tons of fish on an annual basis.
“But our fishermen and our aquaculture farmers are only able to produce just about 174,000 metric tons with deficit of 200,000 metric tons,” she added.
READ: CBN invests over N120 billion on 320,000 farmers across CTG within four years
She also disclosed that the state has 9,000 artisanal fishermen, and bringing more youths into the space will increase the level of fish and seafood being harnessed from our water bodies. Looking at the transactional value on an annual basis, the fisheries sector is worth well over N120billion according to her.
In case you missed it: Nigeria exported agricultural products worth N321.5 billion in 2020, representing a 19.16% increase when compared to N269.8 billion recorded in 2019 and a 6.27% increase compared to N302.28 billion recorded in 2018.
Business
#DigitalSkillsTraining: FG announces conclusion of selection process
Only successful applicants that are contacted by the Ministry are to report at the training venue.
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