By Adedapo Adesanya
Nigeria losses over $7 billion annually to inefficiency and corruption, a report by the Nigeria project of the Maritime Anti-Corruption Network (MACN) in collaboration with the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has revealed.
The report said that illegal charges, rent-seeking and corrupt port officials and circumstances of excessive delay to import and export processes were some of the administrative bottlenecks responsible for such huge losses.
“In economic terms, the private sector and the Nigerian government lose as high as N600 billion annually as a result of administrative bottlenecks and delays at the port and terminals in Nigeria,” it stated.
In the report, challenges of port administration were said to remain a major issue as operators continue to face lingering challenges that include infrastructure gaps, regulatory inconsistencies, duplication of roles by Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, high rate of infractions by MDAs, cumbersome cargo clearing processes, multiple taxations and poor state of the roads.
“These challenges, particularly cargo clearance processes and modal transportation have created circumstances of excessive delays to import/export processes, red tape, rent-seeking and corrupt demands, human and vehicular congestion in and around the ports and illegal charges leading to high of business operations.
“Estimates indicate that the economic cost of these inefficiencies to the Nigerian government and private sector is as high as $7 billion annually.
“Broken down, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce Industry, LCCI, further calculates these annual losses to amount to N600 billion in Customs revenues, $10 billion in non-oil export and some N2.5 trillion in corporate revenues, including a drop of 38-40 per cent in industrial capacity,” a part of the report disclosed.
The Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council, Mr Emmanuel Jime, said that the Nigerian ports have been classified as the worst in the world due to traffic congestion, safety and security concerns and logistics shortcomings that have plagued the ports.
Similarly, the Chief Executive Officer of the Convention of Business Integrity, Mr Soji Apampa, the convener of the Port Users Conference themed Retooling the Maritime Sector for Stronger Economic Growth, said the that the focus of the MACN Nigeria project is to use the collective action to strengthen good governance, reduce corruption and improve the investment climate in the Maritime sector.
Mr Apampa said,” We achieve this by working with the industry to strengthen compliance with government regulation, stakeholder activism and public vigilance.”