The Nigeria Shippers’ Council (NSC) has intensified efforts to enhance the exportation of Nigerian goods through inland dry ports across the North East region.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ meeting on regional integration for shipping activities in Bauchi yesterday, NSC’s executive secretary, Dr. Pius Ukeyima Akutah, expressed satisfaction with the region’s growing commitment to boosting exports.
He said that developing and operationalising inland dry ports in the region would not only support local exporters but also attract cross-border trade from neighboring African countries, aligning with Nigeria’s participation in the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
He emphasised that enhancing the region’s logistics infrastructure is in line with the federal government’s vision of harnessing the blue economy to diversify national income.
Akutah noted that Bauchi State has made significant progress on its inland dry port project, recalling that initial approvals date back to the administration of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.
“About 70 percent of the initial work has been done.
We are moving towards the implementation phase where a committee will be set up to drive the process,” he said.
“Borno State is also making strides in developing its own inland dry port, and we were honoured to receive a visit from the state governor in our Lagos office, one of only three governors who have done so.”
He added that Gombe State has also expressed interest in establishing an inland dry port, noting a healthy competition emerging across the region, similar to what is already in place in the North-West with ports in Kano, Kaduna, and Katsina.
The NSC boss stressed the need for critical infrastructure that would facilitate trade across landlocked neighboring countries such as Niger, Cameroon, and Chad via the North-East corridor.
“With Nigeria now a signatory to AfCFTA, we are part of a trade bloc of 1.3 billion people. Our demographic advantage as the most populous black nation must be matched with logistics capacity,” he said.
During the meeting, shippers from Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba, and Yobe states shared their challenges and appealed to the council for strategic support to ease shipping activities in the region.
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