Shippers’ Council set to commence full operation of three ICDs by year end

In its determination to deliver on its mandate, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC) is perfecting plans to commence the full operation of three of its six proposed Inland Container Depots (ICDs) in the country.

ICD, also known as dry port, was proposed to be built in the six geo-political zones of the country on public private partnership arrangement under build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) basis to serve in the long run as a tool for reducing port congestion because the port is not a dwelling place for cargoes but a transit point where cargoes are evacuated as soon as they are discharged.

Secondly, operating ICDs will help to reduce the cost of doing business, especially when goods are moved through the railway to the dry port, because the shipper does not need to leave his base and come to Lagos to clear his cargo; rather he will go to the port at his doorstep to pick his cargo.

In an interview with BusinessDay, Hassan Bello, executive secretary and chief executive officer of NSC, said that ensuring that goods are consigned to the ICDs for them to attain their potentials by becoming operational is the first agenda of his administration, adding that the Council would see to it that at least three ICDs become operational before the end of this year.

According to him, one of reasons the project has not taken off years after was that the agreement signed by the concessionaires with the government at the inception of the project was not able to stand the taste of time because of the vehicle of development, which is the concept of PPP.

Furthermore, he said that the legal framework for the development of the project needs to be got right. This, he said, means that “importers can import consigned cargo through the ports and it must be Customs ports because they are ports in the real sense of it but the difference is that ICDs are dry ports while the other is seaport”. For example, an importer can import cargo from Rotterdam to Isiala-Ngwa through bill of lading; the goods will be evacuated from the seaport to Isiala-Ngwa in Aba, where there are all the characteristics of port like Customs, banks, NDLEA and every other agency present in the port to examine the goods for the importer to pay duty before the goods are released.

On the other advantages, the Shippers’ Council boss said that ICD will offer importers modern trend of doing business, that is, door-to-door delivering of cargo. “We have the infrastructure as well as the local economy; we have trucks, warehouses and packaging companies and that is the beauty of ICDs because it has ripple effects. Agricultural produce could be exported right from people’s doorsteps through bill of lading; goods can be evacuated to the seaport. So, it is the vision of NSC to actualise this infrastructure that has employment content,” he said.

Don Okere