Datsoho: FG Policies Boosted Export Growth by 25% in Two Years
Eromosele Abiodun in London
The Managing Director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Dr Abubarkar Dantsoho has stated that export out of Nigeria has increased by over 25 per cent in the last two years owing to the policies of the federal government.
He stated this while speaking at the ongoing Annual World Ports Conference in London, organised by the International Association of Ports and Harbours (IAPH).
According to him, Nigeria’s population gives it immense advantage among its peers in West and Central Africa adding that recent reforms has also massively increased cargo throughputs.
Specifically, he said, “So for us in Nigeria, the most important thing is that we are seeing growth as a result of this policy that we are taking. Statistically, the exports from Nigeria in the last two years has increased by 25% And then these are exports that are not mainly only oil and gas, in terms of oil and gas like I mentioned, we are doing fantastically around that, but then also in the other areas of manufacturing and agriculture, you know, raw materials like cocoa, like cashew and all that. Volumes have increased and that this is to the credit of the partnership that we have between ourselves and the major terminal operators APM Terminals.”
He said the NPA has everything in place to sustain the growth in exports adding that it was the reason it set up four Export Processing Terminals.
“We have got about four of those in Nigeria where we collaborate with the terminal operators, with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), and other agencies that have a stake. So that everything regarding the processing of the cargo for export is done locally, so that by the time it is exported out of Nigeria, there will not be issues regarding standards,” he added.
He said Nigeria is better placed today to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AFCTA) as a result of the reforms of the present administration.
“Nigeria’s economy is very strong now because of our president’s reforms, which everyone can testify is attracting investors to the country. So because of that, we are leading other African countries to ensure that we export or trade within ourselves in a free and fair manner. So between, for example, Nigeria and Morocco, there’s a lot of exchange of idea because Morocco is now a hub for manufacturing of electric cars and other smaller cars,” he added.
The reforms, he added, was the reason why Nigeria had two ports in the top 20 in the latest global ports ranking by the World Bank.
The NPA boss affirmed, “This the result of hard work and efficiency, because we are collaborating efficiently. And so we have identified that this is getting us a lot of good results. It’s result-oriented, it’s technology-based. So we are going to continue to consolidate on the relationship we have with major players in Morocco and South Africa.”
He revealed that as a result of the reforms, revenue from ports across Nigeria have quadrupled.
“We have experienced a lot of increase in volumes and revenue that has been generated by the ports across Nigeria, and it is strictly because of the collaboration between us and other countries. As a matter of fact, the efficiency in the ports in Nigeria is far better now than those of other West African countries,” he said.
