As the federal government continuously search for solution to the persistent crisis to Apapa gridlock, the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry, ACCI on Tuesday expressed concern over the negative impact of the gridlock as it hurts businesses across the country.
Adetokumbo Kayode,President, Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry who raised the concern at a roundtable organised by the chamber on Apapa Port informed the stakeholders that the Presidency is seeking private sector’s thinking and solutions to the issue,adding that resolutions and communique at the end of the summit would be communicated to them.
Kayode at the roundtable noted that Nigerian economy revolves around Lagos and Port users lose almost N1.5bn daily on charges due largely to the gridlock.
“Most commercial activities across the country revolves around Lagos. Lagos output was $137bn in 2017, more than a third of Nigeria’s gross domestic product, GDP. As a country, it would be one of the ten largest economies in Africa -bigger than Kenya. Moreover, 7.5% of Nigeria’s imports passed through Lagos ports in 2017,and 99% of Nigeria’s trade is by sea.”
Apart from shipping activity, the state is also home to the nation’s primary financial district, technology hub and entertainment industry. The state also generates more revenues than the lowest 30 states combined.
Industry analysts insist that states economic dominance is partly a function of Nigeria’s failure to create opportunities or develop infrastructure outside the former capital.
Kayode insists that issues on Apapa gridlock must be imminently addressed to improve Nigeria’s business environment ranking, while scaling up Nigeria’s GDP and status as Africa’s largest economy.
“The above is happening at a time of sluggish GDP growth. Nigeria has the lowest growth in West Africa at 2023 per cent. Resolving the Port challenges is a step to stop imminent risk of recession. We can fast track economic growth when we reduce cost of doing business at all levels of the economy.”Kayode said.
