If the reforms and modernising of port infrastructure going on at the Onne Container Terminal, Warri Old Port and Onitsha River Port are carried through, import/export and associated businesses in the Eastern part of Nigeria will soon heave a sigh of relief.
The three Eastern ports, considered the most viable in that part of the country, are currently undergoing reforms and modernising infrastructure to improve service efficiency.
“We are likely going to see diversion of cargo to the Eastern ports in the next few years if government ensures free movement of cargo in and out of those ports. This will enable those ports to not only compete with Lagos ports but to decongest Lagos in the interest of the economy,” said Tony Anakebe, managing director, Gold-Link Investment Ltd, a maritime analyst.
Apapa and Tin-Can Island Ports are estimated to handle close to 70 percent of the entire Nigerian import cargo due to their advantaged location, high level of efficiency and availability of modern port infrastructure. This development has in the last five years led to persistent port congestion and gridlock on the roads leading to Apapa metropolis, resulting in rising cost of doing business.
But this ugly situation may soon change as the West African Container Terminal (WACT), operators of the Onne Port which has the capacity to handle about 320,000 TEUs of containers and 325 reefer plugs per annum, recently ordered 10 terminal trucks, two reach stackers and one empty container handler worth $2.5 million (N900 million) to modernise the port and allow it to cope with increasing volumes. While some of the orders have come in, some are still being expected.
Similarly, the future of the Warri Old Port is looking bright with its recent concessioning to the Ocean and Cargo Terminal Services Ltd by the Federal Government after a competitive bid worth $100.78 million. The concessionaire is to run the port for 25 years.
“We have already begun to mobilise our team to hit the ground running as soon as possible. I want to assure that in no time, the fortunes of the Warri Port will change for the best,” said Taiwo Afolabi, chairman, SIFAX Group-led consortium Ocean and Cargo Terminal Services Limited.
Arrangement is also underway to declare and gazette Onitsha River Port as Port of Origin for cargoes coming into the country from any part of the world and Final Destination to those going out of the country as export.
The Onitsha River Port has the capacity to handle 1.2 million TEUs, but is currently not in use. At the completion of the ongoing process, the port will be recognised by UNCTAD as a port to which goods can be consigned from, and from where goods can also be consigned to, from any port located anywhere in the world.
The volume of imported containerised cargo in Onne Port has been growing in the past two years after the nationwide decline in volume between 2015 and 2016, BusinessDay checks show.
The WACT Onne handled a total of 280,000 Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEUs) in 2014, but the volume dropped by 18 percent to 230,000 TEUs in 2015, and further dropped 30 percent to 160,000 TEUs in 2016, according to the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) statistics sited by BusinessDay.
But the volume of containerised cargo started increasing in 2017, growing by 13 percent to 181,000 TEUs in that year, and 22 percent to 225,000 TEUs in 2018, the statistics further show.
“A sizeable portion of this volume recorded in 2017 and 2018 was due to traffic in Apapa, as more shippers divert their cargo to Onne. This can also be attributed to the stability of the Naira against dollar and government’s encouragement of agricultural-based exports,” said Godwin Onyekazi, president, Nigerian Importers Integrity Association (NIIA).
He said that WACT is positively impacting on trade and economic activities in the South-East and South-South regions by enhancing the competitiveness of Onne Port, which has succeeded in making the port more attractive to importers and shipping lines.
According to him, Onne Port is about the only port outside Lagos that can be said to be really competitive, apparently due to the untiring effort at ensuring that containers shipped through the port are handled professionally and delivered in good time to the owners.
To make the Eastern ports more attractive, Iheanacho Ebubeogu, general manager, security, NPA, said government agencies operating in the nation’s seaport must review tariff and charges on ships calling ports in that part of the country with imported cargo by at least 30 percent to encourage effective utilisation. He said if the cost differentials between Lagos and Eastern port are down by 30 percent, importers will be attracted to use the ports.
“When I mean review of tariff across board, NPA tariff has to come down, NIMASA should review their Cabotage tariff, Customs tariff should come down so that, people can be motivated. I do not want us to think that addressing security alone will achieve this,” he said.
To address security challenges facing the port, Ebubeogu said there is need for synergy between NPA and other security agencies to ensure comfort to shipping and prevent host communities from interfering in shipping through piracy and other related crimes.
AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE
