Why Goods Exported from Nigeria are Rejected, NIWA Boss Explains

By Emameh Gabriel and Ayo Ajayi

The Managing Director of the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA), Dr. George Moghalu, has explained why some goods exported from Nigeria are rejected overseas. He also revealed that only about 3,000 of the 10,000 kilometres of the Nigerian waterways were navigable.

Mr. Moghalu made the disclosure when he received a team from NEXIM Bank, led by its Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Abubakar Abba Bello in his office in Abuja on Tuesday.

According to him, Nigerian goods are rejected overseas because such goods spend over three months before they are processed for shipping, a situation which often makes perishable goods to lose quality while transporters incur financial losses.

He said: “We are interested in getting goods to move. Exporters are lamenting that their goods sometimes spend three months at the export terminal in Apapa and another two months before it gets moved.

“We don’t have exclusivity to these goods and that is why we get lots of rejection, they generally say products from Nigeria are not good not knowing that at the point where you took them, they were world-class quality but by the time we suffer delays at the port, when it gets to its destination, it has gone bad.”

He said in spite of the efficiency issue in the inland waterways, there are some issues which are affecting the performance of Nigerian ports. Top among them, he said, is the expansion and utilisation of dormant and existing ports to create efficient transport system in Nigeria, as well as to dicongest the over crowded Apapa Ports.

Moghalu said the country’s road infrastructure will continue to face threat of decay if the maritime transport sector was not prioritised.

He spoke on the need to open up Onitsha Port, because about 60 percent of goods shipped into the Nigeria through Apapa Port are destined for Onitsha and Aba.

He further said the challenges witnessed in the maritime sector would only be addressed when inland waterways become fully functional.

On the importance of functional waterways, he said: “I believe very strongly that until we develop inland waterways the way they should be, will the challenges we have in the maritime today be solved.

“It is when the inland waterways become fully functional that we will decongest Apapa port. It is when it is fully functional that we will save our rail infrastructure from total decay because our roads are not designed to carry the weight they are carrying.

“All over the world, bulk cargo is either moved by water or by rail but more by rail and ours cannot be different. We have over 10,000 kilometres of waterways in this country, as we speak today it is slightly over 3000 that is only navigable, which for me is scandalous.

“If we do a little investment in our waterway infrastructure, a lot will be achieved for the benefit of this country.”

While speaking on the decongestion of Apapa port, he said: “We cannot have a world-class port in Onitsha and Apapa port is congested. Meanwhile, over 60 per cent of the cargoes are destined for Onitsha and Aba.

“So, why can’t we move these cargoes directly to Onitsha? I don’t expect the Maersk vessels to come to Onitsha but badges can move from Apapa to Onitsha and offload the goods. We are going to save transporters lots of costs and at the same time, it is convenient for the operators”, said Moghalu who disclosed that plans were underway to concession Onitsha Port before the end of the year.

“Onitsha River port, in no distant time, we are going to conclude with the concessioning process. I am sure before the end of this year, we would have concluded with Onitsha River Port concessioning.”

Earlier, the Managing Director of NEXIM Bank, Abba Bello solicited continued partnership with NIWA to gaurantee and ensure trade opens up when its sea transportation and logistics company becomes operational.

Sealink company, which is a front runner for the concession, is expected to boost trade across Africa.

On what the company would contribute to the economy, the NEXIM Bank boss said, there is enormous potential and one of the biggest aside from the creation of jobs which comes automatically in the maritime industry and other sectors that will open up, for instance, is mining.

“Today mining contributes only 3 percent to the GDP and while there are challenges, one of the things stopping the development of that industry is the evacuation of the mineral, many of them are heavy minerals and we don’t have the logistics capacity to move them to the ports for evacuation.

“Luckily, most of the mineral resources are within the central area and the river cuts across and we think that by BB operationalising the see link consortium, one of the biggest beneficiaries will be the mining sectors; jobs will be created, and additional revenue.

“We all know what is happening in Apapa, we cannot continue relying on Apapa as the only evacuation and receiving port in Nigeria. So, we have to look at other jetties.

“Baro port, we hope you will allow us to use the port when we start, maybe in terms of the partnership or you lease it out to Sealink. But any option that will be beneficial to the economy will be welcomed by us”.