Port inefficiencies, infrastructural deficits, regulatory bottlenecks, endemic corruption, high charges, procedural delays, poor infrastructure, among other challenges, have cumulatively driven up the cost of doing business and logistics costs in Nigeria up to 40 per cent of product prices, one of the highest globally.
  
These were the submissions of maritime stakeholders yesterday, who also lamented that despite efforts at reforms, Nigeria’s broken links in the logistics supply chain from the ports to the hinterlands are driving up inflation, deterring investment, stifling productivity, and ultimately hampering national prosperity.
  
They stated this at the Lagos Chamber Of Commerce and Industries (LCCI) Freight Forwarders Group Conference, themed, “From Ports to Prosperity: Fixing the Links in Nigeria’s Supply Chain,” which brought together regulatory agencies, investors, shipping lines, terminal operators, freight forwarders, importers, exporters, licensed agents and other stakeholders in the logistics chain.
  
The stakeholders noted that the situation along the logistics chain was not better as operators faced inadequate warehousing, fragmented logistics providers, the absence of data integration, multiple checkpoints, and security concerns.
  
The President/Chairman of Council, LCCI, Mr Gabriel Idahosa, said that while Nigeria’s supply chain system historically lay in the country’s strategic location, vibrant ports, entrepreneurial energy, and domestic market size, it faced persistent inefficiencies, infrastructural deficits, regulatory bottlenecks, and endemic corruption.
  
Idahosa highlighted key structural gaps the country was facing, including poor roads, limited rail infrastructure, weak power supply, inefficient port operations characterised by manual processes, poor coordination among port agencies, and outdated equipment. 
  
Others were regulatory overlap, bureaucracy, and multiple agencies with overlapping functions and delay, absence of end-to-end digital platforms that integrate stakeholders due to the lack of complete digitisation as well as security and transparency issues, from cargo theft to extortion, and lack of trust across the chain.

The Executive Secretary/Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Shippers’ Council (NSC), Dr Pius Akutah, said that while Nigeria served as the gateway for over 80 per cent of international trade by volume, inefficiencies and systemic bottlenecks along the supply chain had hampered the sector’s full potential.
  
Akutah said, while efforts have been made to reform the maritime sector, several issues continue to impede efficiency and competitiveness, which include port and cargo clearance delays due to bureaucratic bottlenecks and lack of process automation as well as poor intermodal connectivity, and limited inland waterways integration.

He also listed lack of digital integration and data sharing among agencies and operators, leading to fragmented logistics operations, absence of real-time cargo visibility and tracking tools, hiigh transaction and logistics costs due to multiple charges, duplicative inspections, and informal levies.

Akutah also pointed at security vulnerabilities, including theft, pilferage, and weak enforcement mechanisms; policy inconsistencies and regulatory overlaps as well as limited uptake of globally recognised digital innovations, such as the International Cargo Tracking Note (ICTN).

He said with the appropriate investment in both hard and soft infrastructure, and the right policy environment, Nigeria can transform its ports into powerful engines of prosperity.

Speaking earlier, the Chairman, Freight Forwarders Group, LCCI, Las Alli-Shobande, said the time is apt to bring together this stakeholders in the maritme sector to deliberate on the important issues relating to the ports and cargo handling efficiency that have remained a source of concern to all practitioners and port users.

He said, although, there is yet a great need for infrastructure upgrade, the recent massive investments in rail, barge, road development and the emergence of the Lekki port, have significantly enhanced cargo evacuation at the ports, particularly Apapa and Tincan Island Ports.