The Nigeria Customs Service has thrown its weight behind the multi-million tonnes cargo transit deal between Nigeria and its northern neighbour; Niger Republic. The agreement which was further concretised in Abuja last week will involve importers from Niger routing their cargoes through Nigerian ports.
The Nigeria Customs Service has thrown its weight behind the multi-million tonnes cargo transit deal between Nigeria and its northern neighbour; Niger Republic. The agreement which was further concretised in Abuja last week will involve importers from Niger routing their cargoes through Nigerian ports.
And following the huge economic benefits to Nigeria, the Comptroller -General of Nigeria Custom Service (NCS), Alhaji Abdullahi Dikko, has promised that Republic of Niger shippers would enjoy easy transit of such cargoes to facilitate trade between the two nations.
Dikko, represented by Mr John Atte, the Deputy Comptroller-General (Finance Administration and Technical Services), gave the assurance on Friday when a delegation of Nigerian Shippers Council and Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission paid him a courtesy visit in Abuja to seek further collaboration in the plans to move about three million tonnes of transit cargoes from Nigerian seaports to Jibiya in Niger annually.
Both the Nigerian Shippers Council and the Nigeria-Niger Joint Commission met in Abuja last week, with stakeholders from Nigeria in attendance to fine-tune effective movement of transit cargo from Nigeria to her landlocked neighbours in Niger, Chad and others.
Dikko said that most challenges faced by Niger in terms of delay of movement of cargo and issues at the various border posts would be resolved.
He said: “The Customs has tried to see that we ease off the system so that goods can move faster; with the help of Shippers Council the system has been decentralised and capacity built.
"We have officers that are well trained to lead cargoes to the next environment; we have also noted the two weeks delay or more at the borders.
"In conjunction with Shippers Council we will look into the matters and make sure that those complaints are eliminated”.
Speaking earlier on Thursday at the flag-off of the workshop, Executive Secretary of Nigerian Shippers Council; Mr Hassan Bello had said that moving transit cargo through the Nigerian ports will help achieve economies of scale and attract more transport operators, leading to a favourable cycle in higher trade volumes.
“Investment opportunities will increase with regards to infrastructure development and other ancillary services such as freight forwarding, insurance and banking will receive a boost with a multiplier effects on our national economy”, he stressed.
Hassan commended the Nigeria Customs Service, (NCS), in its collaborative efforts in the Niger-Nigeria trade corridor by decentralizing the issuance of ‘Transire’, a document needed for the movement of transit cargoes.
The Customs CG assured that the service would collaborate with Shippers Council and the ministries of Transport of both countries as well as Niger Republic Customs to ensure smooth border operations.
Earlier at the meeting, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Transport of Niger, Mr Alguima Abdoulaye, expressed appreciation to Nigeria Customs for the audience given to them.
He said he believed the two countries were one, but noted that with difficulties Nigeriens faced in moving goods through Nigerian borders they preferred to go to more distant countries to freight their cargo.
Abdoulaye acknowledged improvements in services at Nigeria’s borders with Niger, but expressed the hope that areas of conflict between both countries Customs Services would be resolved to ease cargo movement.
But, the Executive Secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council, said there was a need for enhanced trade between Nigeria and Niger.
He said it was not be good for Niger Republic to be transporting goods through other countries far from it, especially considering the cost of transportation.
Bello, however, thanked the Nigeria Customs Service for the steps it had taken so far to ease trade between the two countries.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that, prior to last week, Hassan Bello had in 2013 led a trade delegation, comprising port concessionaires, administrators, government officials and other shipping service providers, to Niger Republic to commence discussions on using Nigeria for the transit cargo for Niger Republic.
And speaking on how long it has taken to get to this point, Hassan Bello told participants at the workshop that: “The Nigerian corridor was the primary access to the sea for Niger and Chadian economic operators before some challenges emanated in 1996. This situation was compounded by the privatization exercise which commenced in 2006 and made no special provisions for transit goods as was the case under public operations of the ports”.
Bello however said that significant milestones have been recorded in the quest to bring Niger transit trade back to the Nigerian corridor as a result of continuous bilateral engagements and interagency consultations on the issue.
“These include several trade missions, the last being that of the Nigeria Port Concessionaires to sensitise Niger economic operators in Maradi in January 2013; signing of the MOU on Niger Council for Public Transport Users (CNUT) Representative office in Lagos in November, 2014 in Abuja and engagement with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) which has led to the removal of some bureaucratic hindrances to the speedy release of transit cargo at our ports”, he said.
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