Nigerian agro-allied products are gaining traction overseas – Kadri
Rizwan Kadri is the managing director/CEO Skyway Aviation Handling Co, (SAHCOL) a cargo Handling Company in Nigeria. In an interview with Ifeoma Okeke, he speaks on exportation of agro-allied products, challenges facing exporters and what SAHCOL is doing to reach out to small enterprises and farmers.
What are some of the facilities you have and how accessible are they?
The cooling facility is a world class facility, it is huge and we spend a lot of money on it and it is international standard. We have been able to recently increase our business as well, like the AirFrance and Ethiopian airline have moved their cargo business to us recently. We have the cold rooms and the fridge, we have got perishable storage. We have a courier department separate, warehouse and we are certified by International Air Transport Association, (IATA) as a grand handling company and export warehouse. We welcome all the farmers and everyone to come and make use of the facility. We have had a steady growth and at one time we had our warehouse burnt down and then we started working again. Our warehouse has come up in the last one year. In 2015, we got it operational and looking at the warehouses today, the work is still on-going and we still continue adding things to it to make it more userfriendly and cost-effective for people to use it. So, the work is still on-going.
Are your facilities cost effective and things the average farmer can afford?
We and NAHCO are the two companies that are the gateway to Cargo. So there is nobody else. Anyone who wants to import or export the cargo by air will either come to us or go to the other company. ABX world are not the only ones using our facility. Airlines, exporters and other stakeholders use our facilities.
Why is it difficult for Nigerian farmers to get the global Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) certification till date?
The biggest hindrance is that people did not wake up to exports because of the oil boom period, so people were enjoying the oil and exporters and farmers were neglected to an extent. It is time for people to key into agriculture. We have the products, we have some of the best yams and best pineapples but when you want to export to European countries they have a lot of specifications. These include quality control, packaging, amongst others. These are the few things that are lacking out there. There is little support by government to get the farmers up to that level. The government should be assisting, they should be going to other countries and see to it that our products are exported. We do not need the farmers to go there. Nigeria should be very proud of the product that they have and they have to get them certified. Packaging will automatically follow. The first thing is quality. If we want to export fresh flowers or fresh foods, if they are far away, it takes time for them to be brought down to the airport. We need good roads and cooling vans. Once they are brought in here, we have the freezer and the cold room to take them. We have to have good roads. If it is a matter of driving for six hours or ten hours to reach here, things should still be within the storage area. After it comes here, it takes another four or five hours for the process to get into the flight. Fresh foods, vegetables and flowers need to be treated very delicately because they should not get spoilt.
What are some of the Nigerian products that have gained traction in other countries?
The easy way out is to export to the West African countries because they do not have too much of specifications or certifications. Today agro-allied products such as yams, fresh foods, the kola seeds, the palm oil and vegetables are local products that go out. Exports have not picked up very high for the European markets because of certification processes. Locally made shoes and hair extensions go into the West Africa side and some of the pockets outside the United States.
AirFrace and Ethiopian airlines have begun cargo operations from SAHCOL just in a space of two months. What are the secrets of your success? There is no secret. We only have the products and along with the products, we believe in service. If you have a mixture of a good products and good infrastructure, you have ease of doing business. Cargo doesn’t speak but the people bringing in the cargo are human beings. You have to treat them well. You have to make the people feel comfortable. Our secret is best service. We have the infrastructures in place, so we mix the both of them together.
What are the challenges facing importers and exporters in Nigeria?
The biggest challenge for importers is forex. Nigeria is import dependent but because of the forex issues, the agents and companies are unable to import. Even though we have the capacity and we want the people to bring in things, because of the non-availability of forex, it is becoming difficult. Export is growing. I have been visiting a few other African countries where they have huge warehouses just for fresh flowers and fresh vegetables. There is so much of capacity there but they do not have the certification. Cargo is just growing and it will take some time to stabilise.
What are the volumes of exports you have each day?
We have about 30tonnes on an average daily and s o m e t i m e s i t g o e s t o 50tonnes. Import is much bigger than exports. What are the categories of businesses that come in here? Are they SMEs or large enterprise? We have both. We do not have too much to send outside. We have local farmers and agents. We are moving towards exportation so it will take some time for the big fish to get into scene. For exports, we have mostly small scale enterprise.
How are you helping the small scale enterprises grow?
To promote exports, our handling rates are very competitive. We do the entire process here. One thing we do is to keep our rates low, so that people can find it affordable. We go to places like Ilorin, meeting the farmers, educate them on what to do and what not to do, meet the government and agencies, in a bid to bridge the gap.
What countries does Nigeria now export to?
We export more to Accra, Ethiopia, US, Europe and China and some other African countries.
Exporters are complaining about high rate of handling charges charged by NAHCO and SAHCOL, are you looking at reducing the rates to make exports more attractive?
Our handling charges have not been reviewed in the last two to three years but everything has gone up to almost double. I will say that the handling charges that we have are one of the lowest in the whole world
How many airlines are you handling now?
We handle about fourteen airlines both international and local, some of them include Etihad, South African Airways, Ethiopian airline, Air France, Dana, Med-view, African World, DHL amongst others.