How NPA is addressing bottlenecks with export trade

Determined to ease the challenges delaying export cargo from entering the port, the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) said it has licensed 10 export processing terminals to ease the movement of exports.

These terminals, when operational, are expected to help reduce the cost of doing business for exporters and eliminate traffic gridlocks on the roads leading to the ports in Lagos, resulting from a backlog of export carrying containers.

Findings show that trucks carrying export goods, which forms over 30 percent of trucks that ply the roads leading to the Apapa and Tin-Can Island Ports, usually constitute traffic due to delay in the completion of the export document by exporters.

For instance, a study by the NPA shows that between 40,000 and 45,000 trucks gain access to Lagos ports in a month, out of which about 15,000 are for export.

Alarmingly, many export carrying trucks approach the port without completing their documentation, and this constitutes a serious challenge to the effectiveness of NPA’s electronic call-up system.

These documents include Customs certifications and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) documents among others.

Giving insight into the NPA approaches to addressing bottlenecks with export, Mohammed Bello-Koko, the managing director of NPA, said recently at a panel session themed, ‘Unlocking Opportunities in Nigeria’s Non-Oil Export Business,’ at the 2022 Zenith Bank International Trade Seminar, that the NPA recently licensed 10 private sector investors to create export processing terminals.

According to him, about three of the 10 terminals would come on stream shortly as they have started perfecting plans to begin operations by September.

“The export processing terminals are locations where exporters start the packaging of their exports, get certification for their products and seal the products before sending them to the port for shipment,” he said.

He said the NPA understands the need to work with the government to ensure the diversification of the economy, which was why the Export Processing Terminals were licensed.

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Continuing, he said: “When these terminals become operations, it will reduce the traffic on the road. The movement of these export goods comes with a cost that is being borne by exporters and it makes Nigerian exports more expensive. But we believe that the export processing terminals will help,” he said.

Another avenue through which the NPA is easing the movement of export in Nigerian port is through the creation of a dedicated lane for all export boxes that are going into Lagos port.

The creation of a dedicated lane for export products, according to the NPA boss, helps in eliminating delays and fast-tracking the movement of export boxes into the port.

The Ports Authority has also created a dedicated time belt, a special time for the movement of all export containers that have completed their documentation. With the timing belt, export boxes are prioritised to ensure they gain access to the port as and when due.

Another strategy deployed by the NPA to ease bottlenecks obstructing the movement of export into the port is the collaboration with the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) to integrate the dues with the new export processing terminals.

Bello-Koko further said that the NPA is also working with the exporters to see how this works in order to save a lot of time and reduce delays associated with export in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, for the export processing terminals to succeed in easing the movement of exports, he said there is a need for other government agencies such as the Customs, Standards Organisation of Nigeria, Quarantine, and others that certify export goods to have desks within the terminals to enable swift processing of the export document.