US promotes investment opportunities on Lagos-Kano-Jibiya transport corridor           

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with the West Africa Borderless Alliance, hosted a road governance caravan on the southern segment of the Lagos-Kano-Jibiya (LAKAJI) transport corridor, beginning from April 11 to 15.

The caravan started in Lagos, passed through Ogun and Oyo, and concluded in Kwara State as an advocacy platform that aims to remove non-tariff barriers to enhance the competitiveness of the LAKAJI corridor.

Throughout the week, leading agricultural producers, traders, transporters and financiers proposed and advocated for systemic and practical improvements to the movement of goods, transport, capital, and services across Nigeria, especially through the LAKAJI.

“High shipping costs and long transit times are real disincentives to doing business in Nigeria,” said Michael Harvey, director of USAID/Nigeria, saying that “reducing the time and cost of shipping goods on the LAKAJI corridor can serve as a boon for much needed investment.”

In 2013, USAID conducted a baseline study on the LAKAJI corridor, which revealed that it costs over $3,000 and takes approximately 12.5 days to send a 20-foot container from Jibiya in Northern Nigeria to Lagos in the Southwest.

“Conversely, it costs nearly $5,000 and takes approximately 19.5 days to ship a 20-foot container from Lagos to Jibiya,” the study showed.

The higher cost to transport goods along the corridor is largely due to the lengthy clearance time and associated costs at the Lagos port.

For this reason, the overall cost and delivery times along the Lagos-Kano-Jibiya corridor are significantly greater than similar corridors in West Africa.

The caravan’s participants included truck drivers, officials of government ministries, departments and agencies.

Others were those from the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, the National Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industries, Mines, and Agriculture, civil society organisations; the Federal Road Safety Corps and the National Association of Nigerian Traders.

Since 2013, USAID has supported strategies to improve Nigeria’s trade competitiveness through efforts such as the road governance caravan.

USAID also provides technical assistance to the Nigerian Customs Service through its trade and transport programme.