By Joshua Yousouph
The Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria (CRFFN) says it has intensified efforts within the last 18 months to reposition freight forwarding practice in Nigeria in line with global standards through wide-ranging reforms anchored on digitalization, standardization, licensing, and capacity development initiatives.
The Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of CRFFN, Mr. Kingsley Igwe, disclosed this last week, while outlining key achievements of the council, noting that the reforms were designed to modernize freight forwarding operations and strengthen compliance across the logistics and maritime supply chain.
Igwe explained that the council’s digitalization drive was aimed at improving operational efficiency and ensuring seamless integration into the National Single Window (NSW) platform to enhance trade facilitation processes.
He further disclosed that over 500 legitimate freight forwarders had been verified under the initiative, while CRFFN had also commenced a structured licensing regime for practitioners in line with international best practices.
According to him, the council has also established a complaint desk to handle disputes and grievances involving freight forwarders, shippers, terminal operators, and other stakeholders in the supply chain, with a view to ensuring fair resolution mechanisms within the sector.
Igwe stated that CRFFN was also working towards standardizing freight forwarding charges to enable importers and cargo owners determine the actual cost of cargo clearance and logistics services, thereby improving transparency in pricing.
On capacity development, he revealed that more than 250 freight forwarders had been trained in air cargo operations, while additional training programmes targeted at sea freight operations are currently underway.
He added that the council had strengthened collaborations with strategic stakeholders within and outside Nigeria to further support ongoing reforms in the maritime and logistics industry.
On staff welfare, the CRFFN boss disclosed that the council had cleared over N490 million in salary arrears inherited from previous administrations and resolved outstanding promotion issues affecting staff between 2022 and 2024.
