Tag Archives: Port

FG to reduce agencies at ports from fifteen to six – Lai Mohammed

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Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, says the government will cut the number of agencies across Nigerian seaports and airports from 15 to six.

Mohammed, who is also a member of Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council (PEBEC), said once the council prunes the number of agencies at the ports to six, it will be possible for people to clear their goods within 24 or 48 hours.

He reiterated the government’s commitment to improving Nigeria’s ranking in the World Bank Ease of Doing Business Index, saying the current ranking of 169 out of 190 countries is unacceptable.

“It’s unsatisfactory that today we are ranked 169 out of 190. That is not very good and the things that we don’t take seriously, like a file staying for 14 days on somebody’s desk, add to this poor ranking,” he said.

“People don’t seem to appreciate how the poor attitude to work impacts negatively on the image of Nigeria and the ease of doing business.

“This is what this Council has been working on since last year and I am proud to say that this Council has been working slowly and steadily but they are actually achieving results.”

Citing the example of Georgia, which was ranked in the 160s a few years ago but currently occupies the fifth position on the global index, Mohammed said though the task of moving Nigeria up the ladder is daunting, there is the abundance of the political will on the part of government to achieve such improvement.

Jumoke Oduwole, executive secretary of PEBEC, who paid Mohammed a visit said the 2017 priority areas for business reform include starting a business, getting credit, trading across the border, paying taxes, construction permits and registering property.

She said three areas prioritized based on engagement with the private sector are entry and exit of goods, entry and exit of people and government transparency.

“The Visa-on-Arrival Programme has been updated to include e-submission,” Oduwole said.

“Before people had to go to the Immigration Office to submit in person so that the Comptroller General of Immigration could give his assent, but now you can submit and they is also a dedicated desk and you don’t have to go physically anymore.”

She disclosed that the council has harmonised the entry and exit forms being managed by different agencies of government at our airports and today, instead of filling four different forms to exit you fill only one and the number of questions on that single form has now been reduced from 23 to 15.

The PEBEC secretary said the authorities at the ports have been mandated to install the iCheck Security Solution Technology, which will phase out the entry and exit forms in due course.

She also disclosed that 11 bills are currently before the national assembly, which will tremendously enhance the ease of doing business in Nigeria when they are eventually enacted into law.

 

Source: The Cable

Nigeria to dredge Calabar port to accommodate large vessels.

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The Chairman, Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Emmanuel Adesoye, says the Federal Government plans to dredge the Calabar Port to enable large vessels berth and do business.

Mr. Adesoye made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Calabar on Wednesday.

“We have seen most of these facilities. They are excellent facilities. They are opportunities waiting to be tapped.

“We know that these are areas that can really help Nigeria in terms of incomes, especially foreign currencies, if properly developed.

“There are also challenges. For example, the one we see is the draft situation in this area; it’s a little bit shallow; we need to do a lot of dredging.

“We need to make it accessible for big ships that can come here and do business with us.

Mr. Adesoye expressed the hope that the dredging of the Calabar channel would begin as soon as possible.

“One of the greatest incentives is to make sure that the draft line is okay for ships to come in here.

“That is the greatest, because when is there, there are business people that are willing to trade with us.

“We want to trade with the others and we are going to have to do a lot of information sharing so that people will now know that this place is ready for ships to come on board here.

“That is one of the things we are going to do and then security wise, I think we are going to work on the security also to make people believe that this area is safe to transact business.

“If you read my acceptance speech during the inauguration, I think the passage of that bill is one of the cardinal points we mention in that thing.

“That this board will be willing to work with the National Assembly to make the passage of the bill as quickly as possible.

“We are going to work on it definitely.”

The NPA chair stressed the need to go back to the drawing board as quickly as possible to make the Calabar port more viable economically.

FG okays $500m industrial port for Modandola Group.

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The federal government has approved the development of a $500 million industrial port, which is to be executed by the Modandola Group.

The Federal Executive Council had on October 12, 2016 approved the proposal for the development of a multipurpose terminal along Badagry Creek, Apapa.

The port, which is capable of berthing 50,000 DWT vessels with a draught of 13.5 metres upon completion, will be sponsored by Modandola Group, together with their foreign partners through Creek Road Multipurpose Terminal Limited (CRMPT) as an SPV.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that upon completion, the project will bring about foreign direct investment (FDI), increase government revenue through taxes and royalties and creation of specialised port facilities for industrial cargo and raw material.

In addition, the port will afford skilled professionals and unskilled persons job opportunities. The industrial complex is also expected to house a power station, information/ technology operating system and modern terminal building to house the administration, shipping and other government agencies.

Recession: Maritime Can Reflate Nigeria’s Economy – Expert

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Group Executive Vice Chairman, SIFAX Group, Dr. Taiwo Afolabi, has urged the Federal Government to focus its attention on the maritime industry as it has the potential to reflate Nigeria’s economy in recession.

Speaking at the maiden edition of the Taiwo Afolabi Annual Maritime Conference in Lagos with the theme, “Africa’s Maritime Capital: Nigeria and Her Potential”, Afolabi said the maritime industry possessed the potential to rescue the country from the current economic troubles by becoming the primary source of revenue for the government.

“The current economic situation has increased the need for an inclusive search for an alternative route to national revival and rebirth, forcing upon us a movement away from decades of fixation on the traditional black gold to the maritime – the emerging glittering ‘blue gold’. Diligent and sustained exploitation of the vast maritime resource endowments of this sector may prove to be that very ‘low-hanging fruit’ that Nigeria needs at a time such as we are in today,” he said.

To turn the potential in the industry to tangible economic benefits, Afolabi advised the government to provide the conducive environment, propound the right legislation and provide massive infrastructural renewal, among others.

Also, the Managing Director of Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL), Dr. Amy Jadesimi, said operators in the maritime industry have to show tenacity in making a difference in view of the mounting challenges they face. She said massive investment in the industry by private operators is one of the key game-changing strategies to take full advantage of the industry’s abundant opportunities.

Using her company as a case study, Jadesimi said over $500 million investments have been made in both the first and second phases of its operations despite the plethora of obstacles that have been erected on its path.

She said it was almost unbelievable some years back that a company of LADOL’s status could be established in Nigeria, adding that its tenacity and faith in the country and the maritime industry have aided it in providing support for ship building and large engineering structures.

She noted that with such deep investments LADOL has made, Nigeria can begin to change the world’s business model in favour of Nigeria and thereby grow the country to become a giant in the maritime world.

The Taiwo Afolabi Annual Maritime Conference is an initiative of the Maritime Forum in the Law Faculty of University of Lagos designed to be an avenue to stimulate intellectual discussions between maritime experts and the university community, especially students with interest in the maritime industry, on contemporary issues in the industry, both locally and internationally.

Over 1,000 students drawn from various departments of the university and other higher institutions across the country attended the event that was also graced by seasoned maritime experts like Greg Ogbeifun, CEO, Stratz Group, Mrs. Margaret Orakwusi, Major Henry Ajetunmobi, Executive Director, SIFAX Group, among others.

Customs rakes-in N35 billion in Apapa Command

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The Apapa Command of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has sets new monthly revenue record of N34.923 billion in the month of August 2016.

The figure, according to a statement signed by the Customs Public Relations Officer, Apapa Command, Emmanuel Ekpa, is about N8 billion higher than the N27 billion collected in July.

Ekpa said the collection record is the highest monthly-generated revenue made by any customs command in the country in the last 10 years.

Meanwhile, the Command also made a seizure of 16 containers for false declaration. It noted that investigations are ongoing over the seized containers, and arrests have been made in preparation for prosecution.

This remarkable feat is coming at a time when the ports are said to be having low volume of trade and shipping companies reported to be leaving the country in the face of some trade restrictions and high exchange rate regime.

Customs Area Controller of the Command, Willy Egbudin, however enjoined officers of the Command to continually work to redouble their efforts in maximum revenue collection, speed in legitimate trade facilitation and uncompromising enforcement of all customs laws.

Egbudin had at a recent meeting with top officers of the Command emphasised that national security must not be compromised at the port and terminals under it in the course of trade facilitation and revenue collection.

The Customs boss attributed the recent increase to increased supervision, closer monitoring and regular outreach to importers and agents on the need to comply, while issuing demand notices for infractions like under-declaration when detected.

He said: ‘’The Comptroller General’s directives are very clear on matters affecting our duties. We must not in anyway act outside the law or encourage people to do so. Importers and agents who violate the law will face the full wrath of it and I can assure you all that I will not spare any Customs Officer collaborator. Any attempt to shortchange the government under my watch here will not be treated with kid gloves.”

Naira Devaluation: Importers Abandon Cargoes at Ports

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Congestion at the ports is beginning to gather momentum as importers have abandoned their cargoes following the continuous slide of the Naira against the American dollar which currently stands at N250 to $1.

Besides, there has also been a steady increase in number of abandoned containers particularly at the Tin Can Island port.

Stakeholders confirmed to Vanguard that the worsening  exchange rate  situation has prompted the Tin Can Island Customs Command to increase its official transaction rate from N165 to all-time high N199 to a dollar.

Confirming the development, the Customs Area Controller in charge of the Tin Can Island Customs, Mr. Zakari Jibrin said recently that the Auto Policy of the Federal Government and the upcoming 2015 election has caused importers to abandon their cargoes at the port.

Read More: Vanguard