Posted on April 11, 2020
The executive secretary, Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Hassan Bello in this interview with YUSUF BABALOLA spoke about Covid-19 and how it will affect government revenue, the Inland dryport and the exclusion of the Council from the ports concessioning review among other issues.
In the face of the global pandemic, how can we diversify our economy from oil, so as to harness the potentials in maritime industry?
The maritime industry has always been an alternative and a very rich source for diversification of revenue for the federal government, it is an industry that creates job, bring revenue to government, create modern infrastructure and generally, move the economy forward. There is no gain saying that the Coronavirus pandemic is global and it would have a local effect on our economy, what is important now is the lessons we are learning from it.
We have to record what has happened to Nigeria’s’ economy including fall in oil prices. The issue is about production, we cannot be a consuming nation forever. We have to produce, manufacture and export, and this must be supported by infrastructure including power, rail, road and the maritime sector itself. So, it is important we learn a lesson, we cannot continue putting our eggs in our basket as a mono economy. Right now, the federal government is grappling with a stumbling economy and we even had to cut out budget.
Would this scourge not affect the revenue coming from the maritime sector?
Of course it would. The arteries of world trade has been clogged, the supply chain has been disrupted with dare consequences, this is a lesson for all because whatever happens, one has to look for how to get out of the situation. This is what Nigeria should be looking at, but there is hope, the situation is temporary, the most important thing is to learn a lesson. Maritime sector is beckoning on Nigeria, saying, ‘Here I am, get me right and you will not fall into this problem’.
We have an import economy that employs people, collects revenue, but we need to balance it with export so that we can equally earn the scarce foreign exchange. There must be a balance. So, here we call on the government to be deliberate, be conscious and concerted to look at all aspects of the economy to put our money where our mouth is.
Other dry ports are yet to function, what is happening, a promoter even pulled out recently?
The dry ports are more important right now, Kano is on now with new investors. At Jos, new investors are coming, we intend to deliver Kano and Jos in the second quarter of 2021. We have new investors and technical partners in all of these, especially Kano which is extremely progressive. The mistake the Shippers’ Council made was trying to deliver all the dry ports at ones.
We are now choosing the ones where we have a willing and capable investor, a financially buoyant investor, and this we have been able to sift together with ICRC (Infrastructure Concession Regulatory Commission) to make sure it is done. So, the Inland dry ports are looking very bright.
What is the level of work at Ibadan Dry Port?
The Chinese investors were the preferred bidder, they were the most responsive and they have been chosen to execute the Ibadan dry port, but now we have had a disruption because of the Coronavirus. So, we are expecting one or two months delay, otherwise, negotiations would have started by 15th of this month, to negotiate, sign an agreement and get approval of the Federal Executive Council (FEC).
However, China is recovering now, Nigeria would soon get over this. The government has been extremely responsive. This is temporary, as soon as the issues are done with, the whole world and Nigeria would start on recovery. We hope it would be very strong because the demand for oil by China would be even more than the pre-Coronavirus level.
Where are we with Kaduna dry port?
At Kaduna, we have more exports now. For example, we have massive exports of over 2,200 metric tonnes of manganese ore, rock stone and zinc. Every day it has been a delight, but still, there are processes and infrastructure we need to put in Kaduna so that it would have maximum contribution. What we have as the problem is, first, rail capacity.
Despite the pandemic, if the rail is operating with cargo, we hope that we would have a special allocation by the Nigeria Railway Corporation, dedicated locomotives and wagons for Kaduna, an average of 80 kilometer per hour is what we are striving to get. The moment we have this, you would see imports coming to Kaduna and people would be going to pick their imports, the most important thing is that I want the Kaduna Dry Port to be an export processing zone, we want the economy of Kaduna to be greatly influenced by the Kaduna dry port and I think we are reacing that level.
Now that the federal government is constructing the standard gauge, would it be linked to the dry port?
Ultimately, 30 million tons could be generated and transferred from Lagos to Kano, and also, Lagos to Ibadan. The speed of the standard gauge is good, it is about 120 kilometres per hour and that is the ultimate. The federal government’s policy now is that all ports are to be linked with rail, including the dry ports.
How can we make use of the opportunity of the lockdown to decongest the ports?
There is an opportunity because the roads are free now, but don’t forget that the lockdown has also affected operations at the port, and the government is trying to broker a balance between the safety of the people and the economy. You cannot shut down the ports because they are central to the economy and the revenue.
The port must operate because we are even receiving things we must use to fight the Coronavirus itself, the medicines, the supports and other essential commodities. The president has gladly said that port operations must continue, however skeletal it is, and this is what Shippers’ Council is trying to do, to make sure we have a balance between safety and economy. I agree with you that we could use this to decongest the ports because terminals are now recording 95 per cent occupancy of their yard, this is not good because there would be congestion on both sides, the sea side and the land side. But you must agree with me that this are abnormal times.
On Lekki Deep Seaport, what do you think should be done to avoid past mistakes?
I was at the port two weeks ago and I am very impressed with what is going on, this is a port that would change the way we do business in Nigeria. I have to appreciate the Lagos state government, the investors, and the construction companies. But what I have to say is that, we are a modern port now, port is not supposed to be a storage area. Customs should not examine cargoes at that port, containers should be taken off-dock and examined.
We also talked about access to the port, there must be a multimodal approach, we cannot have one mode otherwise the same problems would repeat itself. I think there is a committee looking into all these which the Shippers’ Council is not also a member. Issue of port should not be mystified and people are shielded away, we would continue to talk. We are not happy with the way we are being excluded in critical decisions like the port concession and others.
Source: leadership
