Stakeholders in the maritime sector have warned that Nigeria’s declining status as a logistics hub in West and Central Africa could cost it between N800 billion and N1.6 trillion in potential investments and public revenue yearly, if urgent reforms are not implemented.
They emphasised that the implications of Nigeria’s diminishing logistics capacity extend beyond ports to the broader economy, with potential consequences for government revenue, economic growth, and job creation.
The Secretary of the Customs Consultative Committee, Dr Eugene Nweke, noted that the staggering amount could have a significant impact on the country’s economic growth and development.
“The loss of our logistics hub status is more than symbolic; it is economically devastating. We are looking at the erosion of up to N1.6 trillion in investments and public income yearly, which could have powered infrastructure, services and employment,” he stated
To address the crisis, Nweke recommended a comprehensive overhaul of Nigeria’s logistics and port management system with key proposals to include full digitisation of ports and the adoption of a national single-window trade platform aimed at streamlining documentation and reducing clearance delays.
He also urged the government to take immediate action to develop a national logistics policy backed by infrastructure reform and investment in rail-port connectivity, dry ports and special logistics zones.
Nweke said this will help streamline logistics operations, improve efficiency and competitiveness, reduce costs and enhance security of logistics operations and the overall logistics experience.
The Executive Secretary and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Dr Pius Akutah, called for the development of an integrated logistics system to support industrialisation, inclusive trade, export growth, economic diversification and regional value chain participation, as part of efforts to achieve Nigeria’s $1 trillion economy target.
Akutah warned that without efficient cargo evacuation and inland distribution networks, the nation’s ports will remain bottlenecks rather than serve as enablers of regional trade integration and economic growth.
He highlighted the pivotal role Nigeria must play in harnessing the opportunities presented by the $3.4 trillion African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) market, noting that maritime transport will serve as the backbone of its success.
Akutah said Nigeria must strategically position itself as a regional hub for transshipment, logistics and trade facilitation. To achieve this, Akutah underscored the urgent need to promote multimodal connectivity linking seaports to industrial clusters and border posts, harmonise tariffs and documentation with neighbouring economies, and eliminate barriers hindering exports and transit traffic.
The President/Chairman of the council, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gabriel Idahosa, said if Nigeria is to actualise its potential as Africa’s largest economy, the government must urgently fix the broken links in its supply chain from the ports to the hinterlands.
He said the ports, which are the heart of the chain, particularly those in Lagos, that handle over 70 per cent of the nation’s imports and exports, are known for congestion, inefficiencies, high charges, and procedural delays.
Idahosa said the road infrastructure servicing these ports is overwhelmed, while the electronic call-up system, though an improvement, remains insufficient, with the inland container depots (ICDs), which were meant to decentralise port activity, being underutilised.
He stated that the situation along the logistics chain is no better, as stakeholders face inadequate warehousing, fragmented logistics providers, the absence of data integration, multiple checkpoints, and security concerns.
According to him, these challenges cumulatively drive up the cost of doing business, with logistics costs in Nigeria reportedly accounting for up to 30 to 40 per cent of product prices, one of the highest globally.
