How Extortion, Lack Of Coordination Frustrate Export At Seaports

Lack of single window, fine tuning of export processes, government lack of coordination, and extortion have been identified as some of the reasons export of Non-oil products in the country is experiencing setbacks in the country.

LEADERSHIP reports that the top seven agricultural commodities that Nigeria exported were cocoa beans, sesamum seeds, cashew, hibiscuses and seven others.

Nigeria, at this critical time of the economy needs foreign exchange accruable from remittances of export due to the foreign exchange crisis rocking the country but, rejection of export consignment in foreign countries have dealt a great blow.

But, the government, through the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), in the last two years is reforming the Nigeria export sector through introduction of policies that will reduce delay and facilitate the processes.

Part of the reform was the creation of Export Processing Terminals (EPTs) outside the seaports for seamless movement of export consignment onboard ocean going vessels.

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For instance, the reform has grew export volumes from 3.79 million metric tonnes in 2021 to over 5.1 million metric tonnes in 2022.

According to data, 3.5 million metric tonnes of export trade were facilitated through the nation’s seaports between January and June 2023.

“In 2019, the ports recorded about 2.8 million metric tonnes of export, and it increased to 3.8 million metric tonnes in 2020. The export volume grew in 2021 to 3.79 million metric tonnes, and over 5.1 million metric tonnes in 2022,” recent NPA data had shown.

Also, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), in 2023, Nigeria’s total trade was N71,880.01billion, of which imports amounted to N35,917.62 billion, and exports were recorded at N35,962.39 billion

Speaking exclusively to LEADERSHIP, an official of the NPA said the authority and the management of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), are meeting to improve Nigeria’s export earnings and facilitate export cargoes onboard ocean going vessels.

The source said part of the strategies in place was to collapse the numerous export desks at the nation’s seaports into one unit, saying that will make facilitation of cargoes onboard vessels seamless.

“We have raised the issue of export. We have seen a tremendous increase in the percentage and quantity of export cargo and we appreciate that, but we still have a little problem because we have an issue of multiple export desks. The authority and the service are collaborating to collapse the export desks at the ports so that an exporter will only need to report to the combined desk. That way, it will be easier to facilitate export cargoes instead of multiple desks that currently exist,” the source said.

However, the president, National Council of Managing Director of Licenced Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Lucky Amiwero, said the government should be deliberate about increasing export proceeds in the country by declaring an emergency in the sector.

Amiwero, urged the government to streamline the procedures and ensure strict adherence to rules as well as introduce subsidies for the sector to grow.

He stated that the government should encourage refining of raw materials to finished products for export and not only raw materials out of the country.

“Export is not driven enough in this country. When we are talking about exports, we have non-oil exports and oil exports but our focus on revenue is mainly on oil exports while non-oil exports that would take care of most of our activities are not put on the front burner.

We are not pushing our non-oil exports, we rely on only oil exports. Others have not been given any serious consideration in terms of revenue. When you are looking at the procedures for exports, many countries give out subsidies to encourage export but in Nigeria, that’s not the case. Also, all those commodities we are talking about are commodities that’s supposed to be enhanced but we cannot bring in products that are not of quality and we export them. We must improve our processes because most of our products are not competitive because the processes are not topnotcher.

Export is not only about commodities, not only about raw material, but as a country, we should export even manufactured goods to other countries too. If the government is trying to see how they can encourage export, they should also ensure that raw materials are refined to finish products,” he stated.

Amiwero, however, frowned at Nigeria’s low export drive, saying a country not exporting is doomed to fail.

“There should be a government drive to boost exports and the easiest way is for the government to create a committee that will interrogate the country’s current export situation because we basically don’t export and a country that doesn’t export will die. if we are exporting Cocoa, we must refine it in order to see how we can export the refined products but, this costs less when we have all the mechanisms here and you can define them and export it, it gives more money,” he argued.

He continued, “there should be a committee of experts that will  streamline the procedures of export and look at how productions will be encouraged through manufacturing and other things. It is not good for a country to be exporting raw material like the way we are exporting our crude oil. No, we must try to see how we can go into manufacturing so that we can export most of our things as finished goods. We must export them. If we export them, we increase employment, it expands our capability and makes a lot of difference.

Also, we must also streamline processes at the port and to do that, we must set up a committee to do that. What I am saying is that export is something that we must put on the country’s front burner. If you don’t export as a country, we will die,” he ended.

Also speaking, an exporter, Ofin Udofia, said the government is currently encouraging export but extortion along the value chain is affecting productivity.

Udofia, who is the executive secretary, Institute of Export Operations and Management (IEOM), said as long as export documents are up to date, they should be allowed to access and board vessels.

“Government has been encouraging export to some extent but more is to be done. We have been talking about export and we have the Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), doing very well but the challenge is that when you carry your cargo from your warehouse to the seaport, what happens in the port? That is the area the government needs to make seamless, we have a lot of issues at the port. Right from the gate, we have hurdles and these are the things that if we are serious about increasing exports, we must stop.

“For instance, no traffic officer can stop an ambulance with a dead body, that is what export should be at the seaport. As much as we have done the documentation right, no matter how complete it is, they still extort money from exporters. There is no agency that is free from extorting money from exporters from the seaport. Unreceipted money at the port is close to N100,000 per 40ft container and if that is done in Nigeria and someone else is in Ghana, how do you compete or make money?

“From office to office, if we send a sample to Ghana and my price is higher, how will I be competitive? If all agencies are extorting money, how will it be competitive? When we talk about export, it’s about competitiveness because other countries are also selling. We are not the only ones selling to the world,” he stated.

He, however, urged the federal government to encourage export training institutions in order to train exporters on steps of seamless export.

“In export, you can’t change the price. Export should be seamless. It’s difficult to export in Nigeria. Agencies are killing us and when they make decisions, they don’t involve exporters. The government is doing a lot but they should do more by creating training avenues for people to understand what they are doing. You don’t do what you don’t know.”