Lack of Hinterland Connectivity Cost Nigeria Transit Cargoes To Chad, Niger - NPA MD

ABIOLA Seun |

The Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) Managing Director, Ms Hadiza Bala Usman has bemoaned Nigeria inability to attract transit cargoes of neighboring Chad and Niger Republics to lack of interland connectivity.

It would be recalled that transhipment is the act of off-loading containers from one ship (generally at a hub port) and loading it onto another ship to be further carried to the final port of discharge. And majority of container transhipment are transit cargoes meant for land locked countries such as Chad and Niger Republic.

While Niger shares about 1,500 kilometres of boundary with Nigeria, and with a coastline of about 800 kilometres, Nigerian ports remain the natural and easiest gateway for Niger and Chad’s access to the sea.

Nigerian ports are also nearer to Jibiya (a border town between both countries) than Togo, Benin Republic or Ghana; while Ghana to Niger is about 3,400 kilometres, Lagos to Jibiya in Niger is just 1,300 kilometres.

Prior to 2006, Nigerien and Chadian cargoes passed through Nigerian ports to these countries because of Nigeria’s proximity to them.

But since 2006, about 70 per cent of Niger Republic’s cargoes, which were transited through Nigerian seaports, have been lost to neighbouring Ghana, Togo, and Ivory Coast. Before the diversion, Nigeria handled 10 million metric tonnes of Nigerien cargoes, but, presently, 4.3 million metric tonnes of the 10 million metric tonnes of transit cargo are taken to Benin Republic.

Nigerien importers also moved 2.5 million metric tonnes of their transit cargo to Togo. 1.8 million metric tonnes and 400,000 metric tonnes went to Ghana and Ivory Coast respectively. Nigeria is left with a paltry 200,000 metric tonnes of transit cargoes from Niger Republic.

But, speaking over the weekend, the Managing Director of NPA, Ms Hadiza Bala-Usman at a press briefing to announce Nigeria hosting of the International Association of Ports and Harbour (IAPH) on September 17 in Abuja tagged African Ports and Hinterland Connectivity, she said Nigeria lost transhipment cargoes to neighbouring Benin Republic, Ghana and Togo due to lack of hinterland connectivity to Chad, Niger Republic.

The MD stated that without hinterland connectivity, the seaports cannot achieve operational efficiency.

“Without the hinterland connectivity, no matter how much we invest on quays, infrastructure in the port if you don’t link it to rail, inland waterways, we have not achieve anything” she said

Usman, who is the vice-president, IAPH said hinterland connectivity will boost Nigeria exportation of agricultural and solid minerals produce.

“Nigeria government is prioritising export of agriculture produce, solid minerals but if there is no connection from the hinterland where the agricultural produce are farm, if there is no connection for the solid minerals to get to the seaports how can they be exported so the conference is to ensure that government understands our issues” she added.

She further disclosed that the conference will help African countries share ideas amongst themselves on how the challenge of hinterland connectivity are solved.

“We will also share experience with respective port in Africa on how they were able to introduce evacuation of cargoes to the hinterland because if you see the challenges that we see, NIWA, having seen as they dredge the Inland port, how much cargoes is coming to sustain the level of dredging via-a-vis the level of siltation so there is need to be feasibility study on cargo traffic in those location to justify the dredging that will be done in the inland port.

“We want to see our sister counties to ask when they are doing their inland waterways routes what did they do, what are the challenges you have so we don’t repeat some of the mistakes that were made by other countries. We should learn and leapfrog to a successful outing,” she said.

The MD who also frown at Nigeria seaports relying solely on roads as a means of evacuating cargoes from the ports said there is need for policy direction for government to develop other means of evacuating cargoes at the seaports