Determined to attract more businesses into the nation’s seaport currently suffering from increasing drop in the number of ships call vis-a-vis low volume of business, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) over the weekend said it was perfecting plans to review its tariff regime, both upward and downward.
The tariffs, which the service providers have for long been calling for the review, include shipping dues, cargo throughput fee and royalties, among other fees paid by terminal operators and shipping companies to the NPA.
Hadiza Usman, managing director, NPA, who made this disclosure over the weekend at a stakeholders meeting held in Lagos, also stated that the authority was also determined to make Nigerian ports very competitive by diversifying its modes of operations by prioritising export of agricultural produce and solid minerals.
“Our tariff regime will be very competitive looking at the role of Nigeria within the West African sub-region and in the continent. Our tariff will ensure that we are competitive and drive traffic into our ports. And, we would ensure operational efficiency of the Nigerian ports to increase ship traffic. It is evident we are losing traffic but we have to improve our operational efficiency because inefficiency drives traffic away from Nigeria,” the NPA boss said.
She further stated that the authority in conjunction with Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission (ICRC) and Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) would also review the port concession agreement, supposed to be reviewed within two years of commencement but had not since 10 years of its existence.
On the issue of accepting payment in dollar, which many operators have complained about, especially at this time the value of the naira has depreciated, Usman said it would be impossible for the agency to accept payment in naira from terminal operators and shipping companies due to the fact that the authority had most of its obligations in foreign currency and “unless it was able to negotiate its obligations in naira it would be difficult to accept charges in local currency.
“As I mentioned to our stakeholders, we have obligation in US dollars so it is very difficult to accept payment in naira. We know the concern of FX in the country but we shall continue to discuss and ensure that all indebtedness in dollars to NPA are paid in short time.”
Usman, who also pointed out the need for the management of NPA to decongest access to the ports, said there was need to improve the ease of doing business within the port and ensure that terminal operators automate some of their services to reduce human traffic into the ports.
Also speaking on accepting NPA charges in foreign currency, Mohammed Bello Koko, executive director, finance and account, NPA, who acknowledged the difficulties in sourcing foreign exchange, charged the terminal operators to pay up their debt.
According to Koko, NPA finds it difficult accepting naira from service providers because its payment to the Federal Government is negotiated in dollars, therefore, it will be very difficult to collect our dues in naira. “Do the best to pay us, though we understand the difficulties in accessing forex that is why we want to review the concession agreement.”
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