Ghana,Togo dislodges Nigeria as West Africa’s logistics hub
The President of National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents (NCMDLCA), Lucky Amiwero, has stated that Ghana, Togo and Benin republic have dislodged Nigeria as logistics and transshipment hub in West Africa.
Amiwero who spoke to Daily Sun in a recent interview, said that Nigeria does not have any infrastructure for logistics when its ports are grounded with gridlock.
He said, “What you call logistics is the movement of cargo. Can you move your cargo in Nigeria? You cannot move your cargo now.
”We don’t have structure for logistics. Go to Togo and see what is happening there. People who are to take our ports serious are just sitting there doing nothing. Nigeria is going down and is finishing.
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“Togo and Benin Republic, in terms of draft, are higher than Nigeria. And most of the ships are going to these countries now and they don’t come to Lagos.
Daily Times gathered that congestion and perennial gridlock are part of the reasons causing delay to move a cargo from any Nigerian ports to the importers’ warehouse.
Togo now hosts West Africa’s leading container port, snatching the position from Nigeria, according to the Netherlands firm, Dynamar, which provides intelligence and consultancy on maritime sector.
Spurred by many modernisation reforms, the Port of Lomé (PAL) has rapidly expanded indeed. The number of containers transiting by the port has almost tripled reaching 1,193,800 20-foot Equivalent Unit (TEU ) in recent times, while Nigeria is barely rose.
Presently, Nigerian seaports are not transit corridors for goods heading for landlocked countries in West Africa. Togo, Ghana, Benin, and Cote D’Ivoire provide a better route for moving goods to land-locked countries like Mali, Burkina, Niger, Chad than Nigeria because of the overall cost.
However, Nigerian ports are said to be among the most expensive in the world.
