Bhaskaran: WLP Will Give Nigerian Traders Opportunity to Enhance Connectivity, Efficiency of Cargo Operations

Nigeria last month joined the World Logistics Passport (WLP) as a Hub for West Africa, with the Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) as the coordinating partner. In this interview, CEO, World Logistics Passport, Mike Bhaskaran, speaks on the benefits to the country, among other issues. Excerpts:

What is the benefit of Nigeria joining the WLP, and why is the partnership significant to trade and commerce in the West Africa sub-region?

As a private-sector led initiative to boost trade through the world’s first loyalty program for the freight and logistics community, the WLP will offer many benefits to Nigeria. With access to the WLP network, traders will have the opportunity to enhance the connectivity and efficiency of their cargo operations.

The WLP delivers financial and non-financial benefits to traders and freight forwarders including cost and time savings, as well as and faster customs clearances. The more a business trades, the more benefits it unlocks, helping to facilitate access to new markets and increase market share in existing ones.

In turn, this will allow Nigeria to reach its logistics potential. It will have the opportunity to accelerate export programs in place, increase the global presence of its main export products and also increase trade links with main hubs in the region – as well as in new markets in Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

With security, safety and environmental elements as key variables in the logistics value-chain, what are the measures put in place to entrench seamless commercial transactions across the diverse forms of transportation, and how sustainable are these measures?

Our program is built around sustainable, digital-driven solutions. The WLP is one tool in the box for governments to help harmonize trade practices. Integrating land, sea and air freight, beyond just the movement of containers from port to port, the WLP is powered by smart technology, such as blockchain. The repatriation of global value chains means that digital solutions can only thrive within the appropriate policy framework.

As a private sector-led initiative, what is the level of public-sector involvement in this partnership considering that the Ministries of Transportation; Aviation; Ministry of Trade, Commerce and Industry are viable in Nigeria’s economic transformation?

Across numerous WLP Hubs, we work with government as a coordinating Partner. Their role is to support the WLP in bringing onboard new Partners including customs, ports, and airports. In Nigeria, we do not have the government as a coordinating Partner, instead we are working with CRFFN, the national regulator of the freight forwarding industry in the country. However, we have had discussions with H.E. Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transportation, who has spoken of his support for the WLP.

As the CEO, what have you been doing differently that has kept the ship of WLP confidently sailing afloat?

I’m proud to lead this program. It’s the strength of the proposition, and the demand for it in the business community that’s what’s responsible for the success of the WLP.

What are your success milestones, and what landmarks do you intend to achieve in the trade ecosystem?

Overall, our community now stands at 21 hubs in 19 countries with over 60 partners. In June, we welcomed ten new countries at our inaugural Global Summit – this was a huge milestone moment for us. At that event, we also adopted a declaration. It was signed by all countries and members present and outlined how we’re committed to supporting businesses globally through complementary efforts to those already undertaken by other international organizations. This declaration has set the tone for what we want to achieve in the trade ecosystem, as an organisation that’s inclusive and open to all countries and firms that fulfil minimum requirements. We look forward to welcoming more countries and continuing to expand in West Africa. Our Global Summit is also an annual event, so I’m sure we’ll start to look ahead to that again soon.