Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, Barrister Hassan Bello recently spoke with Shipping Position Daily’s Dapo Olawuni on the proposed creation of an African Cabotage regime otherwise known as Trans-regional shipping line; he also spoke on other sundry issues, including the Inland Container Depots (ICD), which is being championed by the Council.
“It is not true that the CRFFN has not been working, if you go and ask the freight forwarding associations, you will find out that they are benefiting from the CRFFN”
What is the idea behind the trans-regional shipping line which the Shippers’ Council is planning?
If you look at West and Central Africa sub-region within the Gulf of Guinea, intra-African trade is the lowest, it is less than one per cent of the total container trade in the world and this is very appalling. There are lots of market between demand and supply between West and Central Africa and Africa generally, so what the ECOWAS has been set up to do is to encourage trade among West African nations and this is what the sea link is supporting. This will be done under Public Private Partnership arrangement. Readiness of Interest will be communicated and I think three vessels will be deployed to such regional trade. We are talking about Sao Tome, Sierra Leone, Senegal within the region and including Nigeria. We should concentrate on having our own trade and most especially we should concentrate on having our own vessels, it is when you have the vessels that you can control the terms of trade, including the freight which is very important. The earnings from freight will have effect on the local economy of the affected countries, and we would also have the involvement of the institutions of those countries; for example the banks, the insurance and everyone coming together, it is an opportunity for employment and modern transport infrastructure and the opportunity to stimulate the economies of these African countries
So far, how much is the project costing the Shippers’ Council?
The cost is not something that you can put down at this stage, but everybody is playing its own part, for example, the shippers’ council sponsored the whole study on it, and some others are building jetties towards the realization of the project. So, it is still too early to start discussing the cost. But even if there is a cost, it is going to be borne by the private sector, government has a very little cost implication as far as this project is concerned, we believe that the private sector should lead the business of shipping and this is one of the areas.
You said three vessels would be deployed, so far, how many vessels are on ground for the project?
This is when the whole project is kick-started; we are going to be using three vessels in the beginning, but later on as the implementation continue, you will see a lot of vessels coming in.
Has the formal implementation of the International Cargo Tracking Note started?
Not formally, but so many people have keyed into it, we are having a trial period, but very soon we would announce the implementation date. We had to integrate the system because some very important stakeholders raised certain observations in order to make the ICTN better, these stakeholders includes; Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and also the shipping companies, so we had to set up a technical committee with the shipping companies, we also met and held several meetings with MAN, we are actually engaging these stakeholders to make the ICTN better in the sense that it would be different from all other shipping documents. Secondly it should not add to the cost of doing business. Also, it is a trade facilitation project which should facilitate the ease of doing business in Nigeria.
It appears the case between the Council and terminal operators have been buried and agents are lamenting that you are not doing anything
No, the case is going on fine at the courts, it is just that I cannot comment on it, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council is doing a lot to reduce charges in the port and ameliorate the challenges of importers and their clearing agents, but the court case is a hindrance. I have to agree with that, but then, everything has to be tried in court and I am very sure that soon, we will get to the conclusion of the issue.
What is the permanent recipe to the crisis in the CRFFN?
It is not true that the CRFFN has not been working, if you go and ask the freight forwarding associations, you will find out that they are benefiting from various training programmes which the CRFFN is sponsoring, this is what the CRFFN is set up to do, to train practitioners’ and ensure that freight forwarding would not be an all-comers affair, this is the most important thing. A lot is being achieved in this regard. We believe that whatever the problem is, it is the freight forwarders that set up the CRFFN, and it is only the freight forwarders who can make it work.
Do you think the CRFFN has been successful in fulfilling its mandate, considering its jostling for collection of Practitioners Operations Fees ?
The CRFFN has been working tirelessly to ensure that their mandate is executed, especially on the issue of training, it is important to look at the mandate of the council and the mandate is training as well as professionalization of freight forwarding practice, I think they are moving smoothly in that achievement.
Kaduna ICD is almost operational, when would the others come up?
The other ICDs will also become operational, we have resumed meetings with the Abia State Government in the case of Isiala Ngwa, the deliberations have been very promising, they have technical partners, so also is the one at Funtua, they are also coming up, we have the one at Ibadan. I am sure that by the time we have two to three ICDs working, others would follow suit. The one in Jos, the Plateau State Government is very keen and this has made the Plateau State Governor to visit the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, very soon we are going to pay a visit to him in order to see what has been done.
How is the commitment of the investors in those undeveloped ICDs?
The investors are very committed, but you cannot expect the same level of commitment from all of them, if we could have two or three ICD operating then we could now say we have done well, it is in the domain of the private sector and we cannot dictate the pace, we want it to be faster, we want these ICDs ready on time, some of the investors are very serious while others have constraints. But the most important thing is that they are coming up, we have operationalized the Kaduna ICD and Kaduna is now going to be on international map, very soon you will see international cargoes being consigned to Kaduna. The Minister of Transportation has set up a committee, it is a very powerful committee comprising of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, the Nigerian Ports Authority, Nigerian Customs Service as well as very important agencies to look at the smooth operation of these ICDs, the shipping companies and terminal operators are also part of this committee, it is all inclusive and it shows the determination and seriousness of government in making sure that these things start working.
Considering the fact that the rails are not working, don’t you foresee challenges even with the Kaduna ICD?
There has been movement of cargoes by rail through the Lagos ports to Kaduna ICD, a lot of cargoes are already being consigned to Kaduna, you have to be there for you to see, and it is really a good beginning. The other proposed ICDs, there is nothing there yet in terms of infrastructures, but Kaduna already has a lot of facilities like clearing and handling equipment and many others, also the Kaduna State Government has been very supportive of the Kaduna dry port, building roads, providing security, lights and even creating offices for agencies that are going to be operating from the dry port.
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