Maritime industry players have blamed their cargo shipment challenges on the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN’s) poor policies.
Tom Igho, a clearing and forwarding agent in Tin-Can Island said Nigeria’s quest to achieve 24-hour cargo throughput was still a mirage because some policies have rendered it unachievable, adding that the regime of tariffs at the port among other surcharges was inimical to business these days.
Similarly, cargo experts under the aegis of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) have expressed their misgivings over what they described as their growing misfortune as businessmen. Specifically, the association led by its Acting President, Kayode Farinto, accused the Godwin Emefiele-led central bank of encroaching into fiscal policy.
According to Farinto, the central bank is taking up the responsibility of the government, which isn’t the purvey of the financial regulator, and this was affecting the operation of the Nigerian ports, reducing cargo volumes.
The ANLCA boss cited the 48 items on the forex prohibition list, which had forced traders to approach the black market for foreign exchange, and also discouraged declaration.
His words: “The role of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) too cannot be overlooked and this is because they are encroaching on fiscal policy which affects the importation of cargo.
“We have over 48 items on the forex prohibition list and these people are still going through the black market, bringing these items is a problem and even when brought in, issues of declaration come in.
“That is why I say there is a decline and not an increase. If it’s not a decline, I will say that 40% of the containers are raw materials from all these multinationals and producing companies like Nigerian Breweries.”
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