Photo credit- Tell.ng
Apapa Port, according to Q1 2018 trade statistics released by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), accounted for 79 percent of total Nigeria foreign trade by ports. Total value of exports through the port was N4.18 trillion, while total import stood at N1.4 trillion.
Compared with the Apapa Port, total value of foreign trade via the Tin Can Island Port in Q1 2018 was N539.09 million, Port Harcourt (3) N523 billion, Port Harcourt (1) N53.5 billion, and Warri Port N35 billion, representing 8 percent, 7 percent, 1 percent and less than 1 percent share of total trade by port operation in the quarter under review.
Growing pressure on the port gives credence to calls by stakeholders in the trade and commerce sector for government to as a matter of urgency bring operations in other ports across the country near optimal level to foster ease of transporting goods within and outside the country.
According to recent reports, more than 3,000 containers are trapped inside the Apapa Port as a result of new policy introduced by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) on the return of containers to the port. The new arrangement directs all trucks to first go to a shipping company’s loading bay from where they are to be called into the port.
Speaking with journalists on the matter, chairman, Association of Maritime Truck Owners (AMATO), Remi Ogungbemi, confirmed the development, noting that the truckers were agitated by the new policy.
“The new directive is not going down well with the truckers because they were at the receiving end of the policy. NPA is saying the terminal operators should give them the list of containers they want to load and number of trucks they are expected to load the previous day before they start coming the next day. So that is what is generating the issue,” Ogungbemi said.
