Export drops 85% on back of Apapa-port gridlocks

Export of Nigeria’s major commodities such as cashew, cocoa, sesame seeds, ginger, hibiscus flower, gum arabic and shea nuts has dropped by 85.29 percent on the back of the worsening state of Apapa and Tin Can roads as well as handling charges at the ports, according to cashew and cocoa producers in the country.
“The Apapa road linking export terminal at the ports is in terrible shape. An exporter, who ships 1,700 tons of commodities per day under normal circumstances when Apapa road was in good condition, now manages to only ship between 100 and 250 tons, and this is bad for business,” said Tola Faseru, president of the National Cashew Association of Nigeria, at a press conference in Lagos.
“These commodities are all perishable and if not shipped on time will perish, meaning great loss of income, livelihood and export revenue for both exporters and the nation,” Faseru said.
He explained that exporters’ drivers are idling away on Apapa road waiting in their trucks for seven to 10 days, stressing that those that have taken loans to finance their exports now find it difficult to meet their financial obligations due to the delays.
He stressed that transaction cycles for export are taking longer than necessary and foreign buyers are beginning to question the integrity of contracts they enter into with Nigerians.
Faseru stated that the Apapa gridlock has given rise to corruption as uniformed men now collect a bribe of N25, 000 on every container, while truck drivers have tripled their charges.
He said priority should be given to exportable commodities in line with the Federal Government economic diversification agenda.
He said the APM Terminal concession should be terminated and the process of a new concessionaires be made transparent and open.
“Key private sector stakeholders who are mainly exporters should be involved in the process along with relevant government representatives,” he stated, adding that the terminal handling charges, which have gone up tenfold, should be cancelled.
Adeyemi Adeniji, CEO, Startlink Global and Idea Limited, said trucks take seven to 10 days on Apapa road and 15 days at the APMT, meaning that their non-oil products start depreciating when they get to the ports.
“Nigeria is competing with the best origins of the world. It is quite unfortunate that with the recent happenings, we may start losing all that we have achieved do far,” Adeniji said.
“Most of our buyers have started writing to state that they want to cancel the contract agreements we have entered, because of the delays in meeting up with those contracts.
“The standard of our commodities is also affected. Before now cashew nuts used to have 1.2 or 1.3 percent of fatty acids but today due to the Apapa gridlock we have found out that our recent shipments get to their destination having 15 percent of fatty acid,” he stated.

ODINAKA ANUDU & JOSEPHINE OKOJIE