NPA's Export Processing Terminals Should Have Cost-Effective Pricing - Exporters
Nigerian exporters, under the aegis of Association of West African Exporters and Maritime Professionals (AWAEMAP), have called on Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) to review the costs associated with its export processing terminals (EPTs).
AWAEMAP President, Hon. Olubunmi Olumekun, made this while speaking at the association's end-of-year summit in Lagos.
His words: "We are partners in progress with NPA and the export processing terminals is a welcome idea because it is something that adds some value to our business. However, there are some things we still need to fine-tune on that policy for it to be sustainable.
"If you are giving me costs and charges; it must be for services. So, there are some charges that are not attached to services. The pricing also has be cost-effective at this time that Nigeria is competing with other African countries. The pricing has to be reduced.
Olumekun stressed that if the nation is serious about improving its foreign exchange, emphasis has to be on non-oil export products to drive the economy, adding that growing non-oil export is the vision of AWAEMAP.
Meanwhile, he observed that there are lots of export opportunities with advent of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), opining that agriculture and other non-oil products hold immense potentials to transform the nation's economy.
"For exporters, we are excited that AfCFTA, which Nigeria intends to maximize, has immense opportunities.Nevertheless, there are also lots of challenges. One of the major challenges is the high influx of foreigners in operations such as barging, terminal operations, among others.
"All these should be local content vocations, yet they are dominated by foreigners. So, Nigeria needs to have a strong policy that is going to restrict some of these foreigners from participating in local businesses," he remarked.
On his part, the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr. Abubakar Dantsoho, noted that Nigerian exporters had suffered colossal losses in the past as a result of weak regulatory institutions, but there has been significant improvementimprovement in recent years.
Dantsoho, who was represented by the Authority's General Manager, Marine and Operations, Dr. Charles Okaga, reassured the exporters and maritime practitioners that the Authority will deepen its efforts to make export processes more seamless.
He also posited that the Export Processing Terminals and transit parks have eased the logistics challenges formerly bedeviling exports at seaports.
Also speaking, the Lilypond Customs Area Controller (CAC), Compt. Ajibola Odusanya, assured the export stakeholders that Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) prioritizes the growth of exports and will continue to play its role in promoting non-oil export trade.
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