The seemingly unending congestion in Nigerian ports occasioned by rising cargo throughput without commensurate cargo handling equipment, among other factors, certainly makes a strong case for a better system of trade facilitation in the country.
Importers, exporters and their agents as well other port users have over the years groaned under the nightmare arising from incessant port congestion, especially in Lagos ports which handle up to 88.5 percent of Nigerian inbound cargo.
In the face of this, the search for an efficient system of trade facilitation in the country has been ongoing. Successive administrations have at one time or the other set up committees on trade facilitation, but a satisfactory result has yet to be achieved.
As part of these efforts, the Federal Executive Council in 2006 approved the establishment of Inland Container Depots (ICDs), a trade facilitation concept introduced by the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), in the six geopolitical zones of the federation under BOOT (Build, Own, Operate and Transfer) agreement. The project was subsequently gazetted on May 21, 2007.
Defined by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) as “a common user facility with public authority status equipped with fixed installation”, an ICD is simply a bonded terminal in faraway location outside the seaport but having the public authority status of every government agency like any other seaport. It is a dry port that serves as a destination for importers in any part of the world. Usually located in the hinterland with rail facility links, it functions like every other port.
The proposed locations for the ICDs are Jos (North Central), Isiala Ngwa, Aba (South East), Kano (North West), Maiduguri (North East), Ibadan (South West), and Funtua (North East).
Read also: Shippers frown at Customs’ double examination of containers for ICDs
Under the BOOT agreement, the companies handling the project – Catamaran Logistics, Dala Inland Dry Port Limited, Dunca Maritime, Eastgate Terminal Limited, Equatorial Maritime Limited and Migfo Nigeria Limited – are expected to operate each facility for 25 years before transferring ownership to the Federal Government.
We align with the ICDs project. We believe, just as industry stakeholders have expressed, that the establishment of ICDs will make trading easier for importers and exporters, no matter where they are based in the country. What it means is that importers who travel overseas to import items can decide to use any of the ICDs as a port of destination. This implies that as the container lands in Lagos seaport, for instance, it is automatically trans-shipped to the dry port by rail. With this, the importer who may be in any part of the country will have no business coming to Lagos, as he simply waits for his cargo in either Kano ICD or Isiala Ngwa ICD in Aba, as the case may be.
When fully operational, the ICDs are expected to decongest the seaports and make them user-friendly as against the current prevailing situation. They are also expected to reduce the overall cost of transiting cargo to landlocked neighbouring countries.
We equally agree with Hassan Bello, executive secretary, NSC, who said that the ICDs would take shipping services to the doorsteps of shippers (importers and exporters) across the nation.
According to Bello, other benefits of the ICDs include establishment of customs clearance facility close to production and consumption centres; improved container usage and reduction in the movement of empty containers; improved turn-around time of ships thereby reducing demurrage and avoiding pilferage; issuance of “Bill of Lading” by shipping lines who thereby assume liability from dispatch to destination ports; lower freight to increase trade flows; optimal use of surface transport and the decongestion of the seaports.
We also agree. We are, however, concerned about government’s commitment to the full realisation of the project. This is because after the excitement that followed the announcement of the projects, not much has been heard about progress being made.
We are also concerned that in the absence of an effective rail system linking the ports to the ICD locations, the ICDs project may well go the way of other things Nigerian.
