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Port concessionaires invest over N200bn in 10 years, says Shippers’ Council

By Thompson ABISOLA

The Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Mr Hassan Bello, said on Wednesday that terminal operators at ports made significant investments estimated at N200 billion in the last 10 years.

Bello made this known in Abuja at the ongoing Sub-Regional Workshop and Joint Standing Committee Meeting hosted by the NSC under the auspices of the Federal Ministry of Transportation.

The event was organised by the Union of African Shippers’ Council (UASC) in collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).

He spoke on the topic: “Development of Trade Support Facilities/Infrastructure and Banefits to Trade Facilitation and National Economic Growth: Inland Dry Ports Transit Parks and Logistic Platform.”

According to him, estimated investments have exceeded the N50 billion mark planned in the concession agreement for the entire period of the concession

“This represented a multiple of about 400 per cent of the planned investment.

“The port operators were still expected to make additional investments over the remaining years of the concession agreement.

“Before the concession of the port, ship waiting time was 21 days and after the concession the waiting time came to zero.

“Vessel Turn Around Time was five days before the concession and after 2006, the vessel turn-around time is 41 hours.

“The Container Dwell Time was 28 days before 2006, while after the concession the Container Dwell Time is 14 days.

“Port operation that was 9:a.m. to 4p.m. Monday to Friday is now 24 hours in a week.

“The Inland Dry Ports (IDPs) are being developed to provide the impetus to revive and modernise  the railway as a primary mode for long distance haulage.

“The ICDs were established to lower the over-all costs of cargo to the hinterland as well as that of transit cargo to landlocked-neighbouring countries,” Bello said.

The executive secretary explained the ICDs would bring shipping services closer to the hinterlands and local businessmen were encouraged to take part in the container trade.

He recalled that the Kaduna ICD was inaugurated by President Muhammadu Buhari, on Jan. 4, 2018, saying that the ICD was fully operational with cargo throughput of over 200 monthly.

Bello said that the development had opened trade window to landlocked countries bordering Nigeria, who were interested in using the port as transit point.

He further explained that Truck Transit Park (TTP) was another infrastructure project of NSC to facilitate trade in the sub-region, particularly with landlocked countries.

Bello said that the council was ensuring establishment of the TTP on major road corridors in Nigeria, saying that TTP was a rest area located off a highway, designed to provide temporary rest location for truck drivers.

“The TTPs are primarily intended for short-term safety break and long-term parking services in highly-used road corridors.

According to him, the TTP is aimed at providing inter-connectivity with the seaports and the TTPs are being developed at Lokoja, Obollo-Afor, Illela, Benin bypass and Aviele.

“The TTPs are being developed through Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement because it is 24-hour income stream and customers on road spend billions of naira yearly.

“NSC also established Border Information Centres (BICs) in conjunction of USAID and West Africa Trade Hub (WATH), to facilitate trade and provide information for cross-border trade to facilitate effective and seamless trade.

“The Border Information Centres had been established at Seme-Krake and Sokoto-Birnin Kebbi border posts and efforts are ongoing to establish more information centres in Jibiya-Maradi, Banki-Kirawa and Saki-Parakou,” Bello said.

He said that the council had also established the Ports Service Support Portal (PSSP), which was a complaints management portal for the maritime industry in general.

According to him, the International Cargo Tracking Notes (ICTN),  which is also known as Advanced Cargo Declaration (ACD), was introduced as a means of improving the security around marine shipments.

He explained that the ICTN was a suitable tool for the collection of information on applied freight rates.

The NSC boss said that the PSSP warehouse the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) of service providers in the ports, which also promotes transparency of the procedures.

Bello noted that an Act of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was being initiated to establish a liability regime for the carriage of goods by land.

He, however, said that PPP had increasingly become a more effective vehicle for delivering transport and shipping infrastructure.

A paper entitled: “State of Maritime Transport in West and Central Africa”, was also presented by Luisa Rodriguez, Transport Section, Trade Logistic Branch of UNCTAD

Rodriguez said that there was need for exports and imports to generate cargo and volumes to help achieve economy of scale and reduce trade imbalances.

She stressed the need for more participation of PPP in the transport and trade logistics sector, saying that an enabling business environment should be provided for the development of modern logistic service.

According to her, African countries are the best connected – such as Morocco, Egypt, and South Africa.

She said that sub-regional countries should be assessed by individual countries.

Rodriguez said that growth potential of the maritime sector in Africa was significant, saying that African countries were lagging behind in productivity ” but we’re catching up gradually”.

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