The Association of Registered Freight Forwarders of Nigeria (ARFFN) has blamed the Covid-19 pandemic and the low value of Naira as the reason there is a drop in vehicle importation into Nigeria.
Speaking with Shipping Position Daily last week in Apapa, founder of ARFFN, Dr. Frank Ukor said after clearing the vehicles, importers still have to pay seven and half percent for Value Added Tax (VAT) which will make the price of vehicle higher.
“Of course, there are lots of issues affecting vehicle importation in the country and one of them is the pandemic that is affecting everybody; vessels have not been coming in as usual. Secondly the costs of clearing these vehicles are not very competitive; after the duty you will still have to pay seven and half percent VAT; after calculating the duty with the high exchange rate”, he said.
He explained that a lot of vehicle importers are no longer bringing in vehicles because of the high rate of duty and low Naira value.
“Someone in America asked me to give him a quotation, he wanted to bring in vehicles after calculating with the current Dollar rate, he couldn’t bring in the vehicles any longer. When I called him he said when he buys, sends and clears the vehicles with the current price, he won’t be able to make any profit, so he didn’t go into it. And that could be the reason there is a drop in vehicle importation into Nigeria; if you bring in vehicles and do all that with the low value of Naira, you will lose money if you invest in it” he lamented.
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