Coronavirus: Shippers, Freight forwarders express fear of global meltdown 

Segun Oladipupo

As the spread of the deadly Coronavirus seems unabated, Shippers and agents have expressed fear over imminent meltdown of the Nigerian economy.

The operators said that most contracts on cargo transactions are currently being cancelled or abandoned for fear of the disease.

The Chief Executive Officer of De-Potter Nigeria Limited, Prince Bakare Adeyinka said his company which is into export and logistics is being adversely affected as no contract is being signed.

According to him, the worst hit country, China where most of the imports into Nigeria emanate, is locked down economically and that no cargo goes in or comes out.

Bakare said, “The virus is what is affecting every part of the world and being a freight forwarding and logistic company, it is also a global trade.

“There is a very sharp drop in cargo export from Nigeria, a lot of contracts that have been signed are being cancelled probably nobody to attend to them again.

“In Asia particularly China, a lot of businesses are not being attended to even a lot of cargoes in destination are not being attended to and the ones to be loaded here to such area are left unattended to.

“I pray that we are able to find solution to this in time because what is going to become in the next three months will be worse because if nobody is moving any cargo now, in the next three months how expensive the little we have in the market will be?

Adeyinka therefore warned that if nothing is done fast enough, there may be another global meltdown even as he expressed fear that the rate of dollars is experiencing galloping increase.

“If nothing is done now, there may be a global meltdown in the near future in terms of goods and services and availability of funds

“Up to forty percent of the business has been affected because personally, for the past two weeks now, we have not been loading and we have been doing nothing because majority of the contracts are being cancelled.

Also speaking, Hajia Bola Muse, CEO of Bomarah Group noted that for the cargoes in transit, the country would have experienced a drought in cargo import.

She admitted that trouble may arise if the disease is not nipped early enough before global trade is badly affected.

“The consignment shipped one or two months ago are just arriving but the fresh orders are the ones that might have issues.

“Market all over the world has dropped even in China, the market has dropped by 90 percent.

“If we are dancing that Coronavirus is not here in Africa but it is affecting us economically.”

Edited by ‘Biodun Soyele

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