NEXIM Bank to boost trade across Africa with sealink company

The Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) has promised to boost trade across Africa when its sea transportation and logistics company becomes operational.

The Managing Director of the Bank, Abba Bello, while on a courtesy visit to NIWA Managing Director, Dr. George Moghalu, requested a continued partnership with NIWA to ensure that trade opens up across African countries.

The company which is christened sealink company is expected to raise the ante in trading across Africa.

On what the company would contribute to the economy, Bello said: “There is enormous potential and one of the biggest aside from the creation of jobs that comes automatically to the maritime industry and other sectors that will open up, for instance, is mining.

“Today mining contributes only three percent to the GDP and while there are challenges, one of the things stopping the development of that industry is the evacuation of the minerals, 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 operationalising the sealink 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.”

On his part, Moghalu at the event gave reason some goods exported from Nigeria face rejection.

According to Moghalu, the goods are rejected because the goods spend over three months before they are processed for shipping.

He said the delay makes the goods which are mostly perishable to lose quality thereby making the transporter incur financial losses.

He also said there was the need to open up Onitsha river port, adding that about 60 percent of goods shipped into the country through Apapa port are destined for Onitsha and Aba.

He also revealed that only about 3,000 of the 10,000 kilometres of the Nigerian waterways are navigable.

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

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 a lot of rejection. They generally say products from Nigeria are not good not knowing that at the point where they were taken, they were of world-class quality but by the time we suffer delays at the port and the products get to its destination, they have gone bad.

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